Two Souls Bound
by Angel-Mogamishi
Summary: Uchiha Itachi has always been the man with three faces: one for the Akatsuki, one for Sasuke, and one that is real. He always kept his true face hidden, until a girl from his past forces the real Itachi out. How will she alter Itachi's plan for his future? All it took was one ANBU from his past to completely mess up his future, and in turn, the future of all Konoha ninja. ItachixOC
1. Baby Missions

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shouted at the council. Since the third Hokage died it's been their soul mission to make my life a living hell. They have mastered the art of ticking me off so completely that I could almost feel the fire in my eyes as they spoke. They were sending one of their top ANBU black ops on most insultingly easy missions they could possibly manage to come up with. I've made a few exceptions because they just lost a 'close friend', but I draw the line here. I might as well be a Genin with these stupid assignments, and now _this_, it's unacceptable.

The elders and I have never actually had a… stable relationship with each other, unless you count each of us hating each other stable. They torture me and I torture them. It was an understanding we had between them and me. They didn't mind it too much as long as I didn't push it too far. They felt the need to remind me that they were in charge a lot.

"You begged us for a harder assignment, Kiyomi. Now, when we give you one you complain at us. It's either this or guard duty," the elder said.

Is she joking? Guard duty! They could get a chunin to do guard duty, and they were legitimately offering to an ANBU member? Do they know how they're confining me? It's like trying to domesticate a wolf; keeping it locked in a house until it forgets how to fend for itself. I needed a harder mission. I could feel my skills getting rustier by the second from lack of use.

"_Guard duty,_" I hissed, making the word sound like a profanity leaving my lips. Their muscles tightened at the anger in my voice, silently telling me to tone it down.I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. "So, that's it. My two choices are babysitting the knucklehead and the perverted sanin or stand by a gate and try not to fall asleep?" I asked, trying level my temper.

"Yes," the old woman said firmly.

"And if I choose neither…" I trailed off. I technically couldn't refuse an order but I was in a daring mood.

"Then, I suppose we will have no choice but to elect you as our new Hokage. You aren't even close to being as strong or as experienced as our previous leaders, but I'm sure we could put you to good use until we find a more suitable person to take your place."

There was no way they would talk me into doing a stupid desk job. I'd sit behind a desk signing papers and giving out orders from the comfort of an armchair while others got to go out and have all of the fun. I'd barely get into the field now. I need field work; it is my _life_. A good fight will make my day. Sitting in front of a desk answering whatever stupid questions people can conjure up for their own amusement, responding to the petty whims of the townspeople, assigning missions, meetings just thinking about it depresses me. Naruto can have it.

"Not on your life," I growled. My eyes met there's with a defiance that I have rarely ever used before.

"So then you're going to accept guard duty?" The other one asked with a hint of a smile on his face. They hate me, I decided, they truly hate me.

Of course, they already knew my answer, they just wanted to show me that they had won, and I had lost. It was how they entertained themselves. "No," I said grudgingly.

"Then you will go with Naruto and-"

"Yes, Fine, WHATEVER, I'll go!" I yelled, infuriated. I stormed out of the room not missing the smirks painted on their faces as I did so.

Stupid Council, downsizing my abilities like this is foolish and they know it. I could have helped the old man if they had let me guard the Hokage as I originally asked in the last Chunin exam. Then they make me go help Naruto fight Gaara, a Genin. I felt so sorry for the sand ninja I ended up healing him outside of the village gates. Next they put me on clean up duty, picking up bricks and boards. You can pay non-ninjas to do that. I could have spent that time hunting down Orochimaru. I could have caught him in his injured state, and I could have won as long as his accomplice didn't get in the way. Now they have me babysitting to thoughtless, perverted males. They've hit a new low. One more mission like this and I'm gone… I don't care about loyalties anymore. This is pathetic.

It wasn't that I minded Naruto; he was alright for a kid. It was more of his mentor that I truly disliked. I'm sure that deep down he is a nice person, but I really didn't care to get close enough to him to find out.

My feet met the ground and I was off. It was lunchtime, and running was the only assured way to get people out of your path. They take one glance and move out of the way before they're run over.

I slowed to a walk when I got to the river-walk, I couldn't resist the beauty of the water. There was no one there either. It was quiet, peaceful. I had to get as much of that in as possible before it was ruined, as it always is. I closed my eyes, completely content with the peace here.

A muffled bang intruded on my silence. Stupid kids, I thought as I moved my ANBU mask in front of my face. It'll make my order more undeniable. They were always experimenting with new paper bombs near the water. I used my own Genjutsu technique, making me invisible to the naked eye; I want to see who I'm punishing and for what before they see me. I quickly rounded the corner…


	2. Reunions

I quickly rounded the corner and was hit, full force by a blur of black and red. It sent me tumbling backwards, over the railing, towards the water. I caught myself, balancing out my chakra in my feet. I jumped back up, flipped over the railing and landed where I had stood before I was hit.

My reaction was by far faster than that of my adversary. The thing that I ran into was still crumpled on the ground, a mess of black and red. There was another person standing next to the crumpled figure. His face was shadowed but it was obvious that there was something different about him. He was blue, and had gills. Kisame Hoshigaki.

I had been told about the organization when the Jiraiya had first arrived here. If I remember correctly, Kisame traveled with Itachi. That would mean that the person I ran into, that was now lying on the ground, is none other than the great Itachi Uchiha himself. That meant that it was very dangerous for me to be here. I had to leave before this turned ugly.

By the time I realized this he was already standing. I began to turn away. "Kiyomi," his smooth voice spoke emotionlessly. I froze at the sound of my name coming from his lips. I could feel the fire of my rage licking at the fringes of sanity. It took all of my strength not to turn back and attack him.

"Itachi," I spat. I hated the sound of his name. It ran icy chills down my spine and made my stomach turn in disgust.

"I thought I had killed you. It's nice to see you again," his voice made it sound like that was a lie, but his… mental state made it seem like it wasn't. I've always been good at being able to tell what goes on inside someone else's mind.

"Ha," I laughed sarcastically. "I would say, I wish I could say the same, but that'd be just as much of a lie as what you just said, and I'd like to think that I'm better than you when it comes to telling the truth."

"Hm," was his response.

"You two know each other?" Kisame asked.

"Unfortunately," I replied.

"Ha, sounds like you knew him well," Kisame said.

"So tell me, _my old friend_, what are the Akitsuki doing here?" I smeared the term of endearment so that he'd know that I didn't mean it.

"You talk about a secret organization as though it's a topic for the dinner table, girlie. I suggest you turn around and forget everything you've heard. I'd hate to have to kill someone like you." Itachi looked at Kisame as he spoke. He seemed to be trying to tell Kisame what he had said was the wrong thing to say to me, which it was.

"Funny, I was just about to tell you the same thing. If we fought, you wouldn't be able to touch me."

"My hands don't need to touch you, just my blade," he said, overconfident.

"Kiyomi," Itachi said my name again. I could feel my skin warming to match the heat of my rage. The edges of my vision began to turn red. "Lets not fight, not here. Why don't we just sit down and talk for a little while. I think this is all just a big misunderstanding." He was trying to get me somewhere where no one could hear me scream, I guessed.

"I neither need nor do I want to 'sit down and talk', _Uchiha_."

"Then what do you want?" It seemed to be a surprise to him that I didn't want to talk with him about why he did what he did to me.

"I want you to get out of Kohana and leave Naruto and his team alone." My voice was strong and confident.

"What would you be willing to give for that?" he asked. I just glared at him.

"Itachi," Kisame spoke again. He always seems to do more damage to himself when he speaks. "She knows about us. You know that it's our duty to bring her back with us."

Itachi sighed. "Idiot," he said. So that's what he was getting at. He wanted me to sacrifice myself for team 7, agree to come with him if they'll leave them alone.

I shook my head, chuckling. "I guess I know what you want, now. But you should know that I don't go own without a fight. And Kisame just said that it was your 'Duty' to bring me back. You take care of duty to allegiance before missions, if I remember your rules correctly."

"She does know you well, Itachi. Who is this girl?" Kisame asked.

"She's no one," he said coldly.

"Yep, I'm no one, so you do best to just forget about me, and your mission, and _go home_."

He smirked, something I didn't expect to see on him. "No one does a lot of talking."

"_DON'T TOUCH IT!" I yelled at the little black haired boy who was about to touch the fledglings in the nest. "Their mom won't come back if you do!" _

_He turned around faster than I had ever seen anyone my age turn. "Where did you come from?" _

"_Nowhere," I replied. _

"_Well why don't you go back there?" he said. That was rude. _

"_Not until you leave the birds alone." _

"_Would you rather have their parents not return or me to train using their tree and have the possibility of me hitting them?" _

"_You aren't training here." My voice held a command in it. _

"_Oh, and who are you to say I'm not?" he asked. _

"_I'm no one," I didn't give my name out to strangers, especially mean strangers. "I'll show you a better place to train if you leave the birds alone."_

"Well, no one does a lot of talking, doesn't she?" he asked as he jumped down from the tree to the ground. "Lead the way." I glared at him. "Shut up!" Even I could hear the growl in my voice.

He laughed at my rage.

"Kiyomi," A voice called from somewhere behind me. I easily recognized this voice.

"Oh, a Uchiha family reunion, how nice," I said to Itachi. "I'm over here Sasuke!" I yelled to him.

It took less than a second for the two to flee. Sasuke appeared beside me less than a second later, or rather my clone of Sasuke. I dismissed the clone and continued on my way home with a lot more to think about than before.


	3. The Talk

**I don't own any of the Naruto characters. I'm trying to make up for lost time because I've had all of this stuff out for a while, but I haven't been continuing on it because of school and things like that... I'm also trying to make the chapters longer so... Here you go**

* * *

What was he doing back here? They should have sent someone else since he has a tie to Kohana. They can't honestly believe that he's completely broken it. I don't think that even Naruto's that stupid. They are all insane.

They're after Naruto. I understand the reason for my baby mission now, but why me? They know that I was... acquainted… with him. What if I wasn't willing to fight him? Maybe I wasn't ready to see him again.

No, I was ready. Whenever anyone even says his name all I can think is kill. I was ready. He was nothing to me, just an S ranked criminal that needed to be stopped.

I reached the door of my newly acquired home faster than I thought I would. Apparently rage fuels my speed. I was throwing clothes into a suitcase faster than civilians could even think.

I got a new house every other month. I can't stand being in one place for too long. It's too easy for others to track me. I don't need any unsuspecting visitors.

I jumped when someone knocked at my door, breaking my concentration. I quickly answered it. "Sasuke I haven't got all day, I've got a mission to go on. What is it that you need?" I asked.

"Didn't we have training today?" he asked innocently.

I thought about that for a second. Did I have training with Sasuke today? No it's a Tuesday, we have practice every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday unless one of us has a mission. "No Sasuke it's Tuesday," I explained.

"That's what I was thinking when I found this note." He held a piece of paper in his hands that said come to my house for training. My initial was signed at the bottom of it.

I sighed. "Brilliant. No Sasuke there's no training today. I have to play babysitter for your favorite brat and the perverted Sanin."

He smirked. "That sucks. At least I'm not stuck with him this time."

"Lucky you." I walked back to the bedroom to change into my a different outfit. Sasuke followed me. He turned around like any man should when I started to change. It wasn't that unusual. We practically grew up together. We could never think of each other like that, besides, I'm way to old for him.

"Make sure you don't room with the pervert," he said with his back to me.

"Already done. I wouldn't want to wake up with some old man in my bed." I shuddered at the thought.

"Why do they have you going along anyway?"

I didn't think now would be the best time to bring up the fact that his brother was back in town. "I'm not sure," I lied. "But it was either this, guard duty, or be the Hokage."

"They asked you to be the Hokage?"

"Yeah, I'm not interested."

"They were going to put you on guard duty? I think they're on drugs. Wasting such talent as yours."

I turned to face him once I was done changing. "That's what I thought. I'm not meaning to sound proud or anything but… Gennin can do guard duty. Civilians can do guard duty."

"The council has been undermining everyone lately," he said. "I think they're getting to close to senile to think straight enough to dish out missions."

I smiled and walked towards him. "I agree," I said as I reached for my backpack with my clothes in it and pushed him towards the door.

"Okay, okay I'm walking," he said as he struggled to get away from my hands.

I chuckled. "Sorry, old habits."

"You've been thinking a lot about the past too, huh?" he asked as we started walking down the sidewalk.

"I've just had a lot of things around to remind me lately."

"So have I." I didn't miss him reaching up and rubbing that curse mark that my old nemesis placed on him.

"How are you doing?" I asked, knowing that he'd know what I was talking about.

"It stings," he admitted.

"Hm… Try ice?" I suggested half jokingly.

He rolled his eyes. "Like that'd ever work."

I stopped and turned to look at him. "Sasuke, I need you to promise me something."

"What?" he asked. I could tell that he was annoyed.

"No matter what happens to anyone else. Promise me you won't join him. I made my choice a long time ago. That man will never see me on his side. Please, don't choose his side, no matter what."

"What do you mean you made your choice?" he asked. I could tell that I peaked his attention.

"You mean no one told you? He kidnapped me once. Of course that was before Itachi… well you know. I escaped and made my choice then. He always has his own agenda. Promise me?" I asked again.

"Okay, fine. I promise I won't go join snake head," he said.

"Good boy." I ruffled his hair. "Now, run along and find Kakashi. Something tells me that he wants to see you," I said while pointing at the sky. Kakashi's bird was flying high in the air.

He fixed his hair before setting off. I continued walking towards where I was supposed to meet my temporary teammates.

"So," a familiar voice echoed behind me. "That was a nice trick."

"You're still predictable, Itachi. Faking my signature," I said. I wouldn't fight here. This was a public street; anyone could walk out and see. "You've hit a new low."

"A shadow clone of my brother, that's not exactly the epitome of righteousness either," Itachi said. He took his brothers place at my side as I kept walking at a brisk pace.

"Not one visit in years and now twice in one day, man do I feels special." I made sure that my words were dripping with sarcasm.

"Well, I figured it was about time."

Where's your partner? I thought Akitsuki partners were practically joined at the hip."

"You've got a little more studying to do. He's sleeping."

"Well I've got some things to attend to, more studying and all. Do you mind leaving me alone?" I asked as impolitely as I could manage.

"Actually I do."

I had run out of walking space. I was at the bridge where I was supposed to meet my teammates. "Look, I'm supposed to be meeting someone and there going to be here soon. What do you want Itachi?"

He just stared at me.

"Go home Itachi."

"Not without you."

"Well you're not going with me so does that mean that you're going to stay in this village forever? If so I'll gladly escort you to prison."

"You will come, whether you want to or not. I'll see you after my mission is through."

"And here I thought duty came before a mission," I said as the shadow clone that I was talking to dissipated into the shadows from which they came.

The only thing he didn't realize was that his mission going to cause him to come in contact with me anyway. I smirked, and leaned against the railing, waiting for my horrible team.

************

"Hi, Kiyomi!" Naruto yelled when he finally reached the bridge.

"Hello Naruto." In my mind I replaced his name with the word nuisance.

He smiled widely. "Are you the ANBU that's coming on the mission with us?" he asked.

_No that's not why I'm here at all! _"Yes, Naruto I am."

"Cool! You could teach me some of the moves that you've been teaching Sasuke!"

"Um… I think those are a little too high for you, but I guess I could teach you something if you wanted me to…"

"I want to learn what he's been learning!" I thought he was going to go into one of those hissy fits that I've seen little kids do.

"Easy Naruto," the Jiraiya said. "I'm the one who's supposed to be teaching you, not her, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever old man," Naruto retorted.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be in costume?" Jiraiya asked.

"I didn't feel like it," I responded. He was referring to my very tight fitting ANBU outfit.

"We'll wait," Jiraiya said greedily.

I rolled my eyes and went to the nearest public restroom to change in one of the stalls.

************

"Happy now," I asked in a monotone voice. The mask muffled my voice. It had upgraded in the last few months from a fox to a wolf just as my rank had changed to Captain.

"Very!" Jiraiya said. He was practically drooling.

"Can we go now!" Naruto yelled. It wasn't a question.

This was one of the very few times that I actually agreed with Naruto. I started walking ahead of them, grateful that the cloak dropped over my back. I didn't need to be thinking that Jiraiya was staring at my butt the entire time too.


	4. And So It Begins

Here's the new chapter. Please rate and review. I'll have the next chapter up sometime next week... I hope. 

* * *

_**I. Am. So. Bored. **_ I thought. I was sitting in my room doing, absolutely nothing. Naruto was 'molding his chakra'. It was busy work given to him by Jiraiya. I had resorted to counting floorboards.

"_Kiyomi!" Itachi's voice called to me. _

"_I know!" I yelled back. I slammed my katana into the side of the missing ninja that Itachi was warning me about. He was always warning me about things I already knew. _

_I looked over to him. He was fighting another one of them. One was sneaking up behind him. I was there in lightning speed blocking the one behind him. We were standing back to back. I could feel him literally pressed against my back. _

"_You should watch yourself instead of me, Itachi. You know that you always need to watch your back," I scolded. _

"_Stop lecturing me," he yelled as he blocked another attack. I threw a kunai to stop a shuriken lodging it into the wood. _

"_Are you ready," I asked as I turned to him slightly. _

"_We haven't practiced that move enough yet," he said. _

"_Just trust me and do it!" I yelled at him. Seeing a third enemy put me in a bigger frenzy than before. _

"_Fine," he called. We both faced each other completely. We were the only two out here and we had to completely expose ourselves so we had to get it done quickly. _

_We laced our hands together and each pumped our different elemental chakra's into each other's hands. I had to concentrate on keeping the chakra between us confined into a spherical shape and Itachi was working as much protection as possible. _

_We slowly let the enemy gather around us. The four elemental sphere was finally ready after at least five minutes. We needed to make this faster when we got the chance. _

"_GO!" I yelled to him, as we both broke apart. The second the sphere hit the ground it exploded, first setting things on fire, if they weren't incinerated they had major smoke inhalation. Next the water cascaded on the scene drowning most, and getting water into the lungs of others. The lightning that came next electrified everything wet; it injured, killed and blinded the others. Finally, wind took out any air left in the enemy's lungs. If the elements alone didn't do it, the sharp chakra weapons that naturally form killed them on site. _

_Itachi and I knew the exact range of the deadly sphere. We ran as fast as possible and covered. _

_When it was finally over we laid undercover, panting. That move was powerful, and effective, but it took a lot from us. _

"_Come on," I said after a minute. I was still breathing pretty hard but we had work to do and the ANBU don't fail. "We need to assess the damage." _

"_No we don't," he said through his teeth. "No one could have survived it." _

"_If someone did," I began. _

"_No one did." He was too sure of himself. _

_I started to stand up, trying to make as little noise as possible. I found myself flat on the ground in seconds. My arms were above my head. I was staring into the black eyes of Itachi. His body was on top of mine; he was sitting on my waist to keep me from moving_

"_That move was more you than me. You need your rest. No one is going to survive that. Rest," he commanded boldly. _

_I struggled against him and quickly found it useless. He was right, I had used more chakra than him. I sighed. "Fine." _

"_Good girl," he said gently. _

_I glared up at him. I agreed, I never said I was going to like it._

_He removed my ANBU mask as well as his own. He didn't like them. He complained that it interfered with his view, but I could see everything perfectly fine from under my mask. When I told him that he just laughed and said that I didn't understand. _

"_Just because you found me weak doesn't mean that you can just do things without my consent," I said, referring to him taking my mask. _

_He smirked. "I'm sorry," he said with no hint of remorse. Something in his eyes changed. He looked different, but I couldn't place exactly how he looked. It was on the verge of being weak, but strong at the same time. _

_Before I knew it his lips were on mine. _

NO, I thought. I'm not going through my memories. Just because he's here doesn't mean that I have to remember everything. I could feel my fury rising at the trigger of my memories. He was going to regret coming back to Kohana.

It was then that I figured out that I wasn't going to kill Itachi Uchiha. No, I wouldn't kill him. I would make him suffer. He deserves to suffer like he's making me suffer. I'm not going to kill him; I'm going to make him beg. A slow, evil smirk spread across my face.

I could hear faint voices in the hallway. _Finally_, I thought. I made sure that my mask and gear were all in place before moving towards the door.

"Naruto-kun, we would like you to come with us," the clear voice of Itachi said. I could hear Naruto step into the hall and the two Akitsuki members turn to face away from my door.

I took the chance and snuck out of my door. I made sure not to make any noise; I didn't want them to see me coming.

"Itachi-san, It's time we got started," his annoying blue partner said. "We don't need him running around. We should cut off a leg." The blue guy reached for his sword.

I figured that was my cue to cut in. I grabbed his sword before he could and used it like a club, slamming him into the wall. There was a large hole where I sent him flying.

"ANBU," Itachi said carefully. "Did you work under me before I left?"

I wasn't about to speak and let him know who I was. I stood in front of Naruto in a defensive stance. He sighed and pointed at me, trying to trap me in a simple genjutsu. It didn't work, at all. I wasn't about to fall for something so simple.

I pushed chakra straight into my hand and used that to fuel my strength as I punched him in the stomach. He was forced back a little ways but was still standing. I was suddenly slammed into Itachi and through the wall.

Thinking quickly, as I was falling I made a shadow clone near Naruto. It told him to run and find Jiraiya. When he obeyed I made it disappear all before I landed, or more of crash-landed. I can't say it was graceful, because I was too busy making sure my mission was taken care of.

I skidded to a stop on the ground a few feet from where Itachi had landed. From what I saw he was letting himself be tossed around. It was almost like he didn't care. Kisame dropped to the ground beside Itachi. We were all standing now.

"If you give up now we'll kill you quickly," Kisame promised.

I lowered myself into a fighting stance as a response.

"Fine, Itachi. We're in Kohana, this one's your call," he said as if he were being generous. He stepped back, planning to just observe.

Itachi stepped forward, not bothering to put himself in any stance. I remembered his fighting techniques. He didn't like to start fights, when the enemy charged him first he had the upper hand. I decided to stay put. I motioned with my fingers for him to come, and also tried to catch him in a simple genjutsu of my own, testing his skills. I could tell that he noticed it, but it had no more effect on him than the slight movement of his head.

"This is to be a war of genjutsu then?" he asked. I didn't respond.

He made very quick hand movements, harder to see than before. His body seemed to slowly fade away. I knew this jutsu. I smirked under my mask and watched the air for any slight changes. There was an unnatural shadow to my right. _Found you_!

I unsheathed my katana and slashed the air where I knew he was. He pulled away, but I knew that I had gotten him. There was blood on my katana and a velocity spatter across the ground. The entire jutsu wore off immediately.

"You're the first to see through it," Itachi's voice said carefully. He appeared where he had faded away only now he had a pretty ugly gash deep in his arm. I smirked. _My turn_.

I could feel my eyes glowing a crystal blue as I summoned my element. "Suiton: Water gate flow," I whispered my jutsu. Water flowed around me, but never touched me. I watched the Uchiha carefully before making my next move. "Suiton: Polluted water," I whispered.

All it had to do was touch his wound for it to take effect, but I wasn't risking anything. I sent a giant wave of my 'poison water' crashing down on the Uchiha, sharpening some into shards of water meant to penetrate to make it look like the giant wave was just a distraction. As he dogged the shards he was hit by the wave.

It took less than twenty seconds for the poison to register in his body. It wouldn't kill him, but without my help he wouldn't be able to completely heal himself.

I dropped my jutsu once the poison took effect, paralyzing him from the inside out. "Kiyomi," he said softly.

"You lose," I said as I took my mask off.

"You can't fool me that easily," Itachi's voice said behind me as his shadow clone dissipeared.

"You're a fool," I said. "Don't you remember my kekkai genkkai?"

He paused for a minute before I heard him crumple to the ground. I turned and looked down at him. I tapped my head softly as he stared up at me. "I can't believe you forgot what I could do, or was it that you didn't think that I trained myself further in that front?"

"What are you talking about, lady?" Kisame yelled as he jumped in front of me on the other side of Itachi.

"I have powers that your mind can't begin to imagine." I chuckled silently. I wasn't going to be like those people who gloat and tell everything.

"You brought the poison with the data transferred from my clone to me," Itachi said. His voice was distorted because he could barely talk.

"That's correct," I said softly. I readied my katana to strike. Before I could swing down to hit him, he was in Kisame's arms. I sighed, "I can't just let you go." My voice was careful, cultivated.

"We'll be back for you, ya little bi-" Kisame growled

"Is that a promise?" I asked.

"You think I'll just let you escape after this?" he spat.

"Itachi, do I have your word?" I asked. If there was anything I could trust from Itachi it was his word. He always kept his word if it was promised.

"Y-yes," Itachi said weakly. He tried to put on a brave face. I knew what the poison was doing to him. It wasn't a nice poison, it didn't just paralyze. No, it wasn't the poison that paralyzed at all, it was the pain. The pain was so horrible that it made the person infected unwilling to move because that would cause the person more pain. I nodded and tried to hide my smirk. They quickly disappeared after that, and I let them leave as promised.

This isn't over.


	5. Explinations

My next task, finding Naruto, proved to be easier than I had hoped. I wanted a little time to think, but Sasuke had caught up with him.

I saw Sasuke ready to pounce when I landed near Naruto. I didn't stop him. My head slammed against a wall. "Where is he?" Sasuke yelled at me.

"He?" I asked calmly.

"Don't play me! You know who!" he screamed. His grip on my throat tightened to the point where it was uncomfortable. "Where is he?"

"I'm not sure… the lack of oxygen is confusing my brain." I tugged loosely at his hand.

He didn't move an inch, not that I really expected him to. If glares could kill I'd be pretty close to dead right now.

"He's wounded, I wouldn't tell you where he was even if I knew. You need to fight fair to regain your honor."

"I'm not looking for honor I'm looking for revenge!"

"Then you don't want to kill him," I said simply.

"WHY NOT!"

"Did he kill you? No, he wounded you. You need to wound him to the point of death like he did you. That's what revenge is. "

"What would you know about what I want? Your life has been easy compared to mine! You're in ANBU, you're strong, and you're powerful. You have everything, you always have! Ever since I was little you've had it eas-"

I couldn't take it anymore. I moved his hand easily and turned him around, cracking his head into the wall before crushing his windpipe with my forearm. "You want to know what I had! I'll tell you what I had! I had a drunk, sexist stepfather who was never there for me, and a fake, Barbie doll stepmother who forced me not to eat to maintain a 'perfect figure'! That was what I was living with when you were younger. No one ever knew! You want to know the worst part? I still protected them when Itachi was about to kill them. I was wounded and failed, but I still tried. You weren't the only one who was robbed of the only parents you had.

"Thanks to that I have to struggle for every cent I earn! I'm not paid enough for what I do. Don't you _dare_ say I have it easy!" I pushed him farther into the dent in the wall before releasing him.

"Do I want to see Itachi dead? No, I want to see him pay for the critical condition he put me in for a month. I want him to feel the pain I felt. I want him to regret leaving me alive. I want him to hate me as much as I hate him. He doesn't deserve death. It's to good for him." There it was, the reason I let Itachi leave. The pain I was in made me not want to move it was so bad. I used my pain as a base for the poison.

Now Sasuke looked like a sulking child, like I told him that he couldn't have what he wanted because he didn't eat his vegetables. "At least tell me you hurt him," he said quietly.

"He won't be moving for at least a week," I promised.

"I'm Heerrreeee," Jiraiya's voice came from beside Naruto.

"A little to late for the party Jiraiya," I said. "I do believe my usefulness has come to an end in this mission. He won't be back for a while now." _At least not back for you_, I added in my head.

"I'd have to agree," Jiraiya said. "That was all the village wanted you here for. You are free to go."

I smiled. That was music to my ears. "Come on Sasuke, You might have training today after all."

**********

We walked side by side. He was too tired of running to run any further so we walked.

"What did you catch him with?" Sasuke asked me. "Genujutsu?"

"No, we're too close to matched in that. I used a water technique," I told him honestly.

"One of the moves I can't do," he said in a tone that meant he was upset.

"It's the best thing to use against one of the Uchiha's. Your clan's main element is fire. Fire and water cancel each other out. If he had used a high-end fire technique against it, the poison I hid in the water might not have touched him. All it took was one drop of the poison water for him to be out of the fight." Something troubled me in what I had just said. Why didn't he use a fire technique to cancel it out? I know he could have. It was like he was trying not to fight me, like he wanted to lose.

"Is it painful?" he asked me.

"The poison? Yes, horribly painful. If you move, even to breathe your entire body feels like its engulfed in flame."

"Good. How do you get rid of it?"

"You need me to get rid of it."

"What do you mean?"

"That poison was developed from my own body. The pain he put me through was forced into that liquefied form. Only my body has the antidote. If I were to die he'd be stuck like that. I need to be there and willing to give you the cure for it to actually work."

"Never before have I wished for your death," Sasuke said with a joking smirk on his face.

"I love you too, Sasuke," I said sarcastically. "Eventually he'll end up getting use to the pain and be able to move some, like I did. If I concentrate hard I can still feel the burning. I was never able to get rid of it, but I can get it out of others. Ironic is it not?"

"He put you through that?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me how? I want to know your story."

"Now that you know I have one you want to know what it is." I paused. "I can do one better than tell you, I can show you."

"Oh, that's right, your kekkai genkkai. I almost forgot about that."

"So did your brother," I mumbled.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Um… I'm going to have to debrief before I can show you. Do you think you can entertain yourself for a few hours?"

Sasuke smirked. "I think I can manage."

"Don't get yourself into trouble. It's pretty close to nightfall so why don't you just stay in the guest bedroom." It's not like he doesn't practically live at my house anyway.

"No problem. I'll see you there." With that we parted company. I was making my way to the council and he was going who knows where. I didn't need to know, I'd see him later.

***********

"What's wrong with you," Danzo, my _favorite_ council member asked. "You're normally so descriptive in your reports."

I sighed while trying to hold my tongue. "I guess it's just the subject matter and the time of night," I said. My thoughts were much less polite.

"We are disappointed in you," one of the other council members said. "You were trained to kill, why didn't you do what you were trained to so!"

I could feel the sting on my cheek before I realized that one of them slapped me. It wasn't bad it just stung. "Next time do what we trained you to do."

"With all do respect, you didn't train me, I trained myself."

"We made you who you are!" one of them yelled.

I tried, really hard not to respond. I just couldn't help it. "No! Life made me who I am! Just because you give me a position and a title doesn't mean that you made me who I am! I am who I am because that's how I was raised to be. If you had actually raised me then you could claim some stake in me, but you weren't there for me when I needed someone there! No one was! I made myself the way I am! You can dress me like one of your little puppets, call on me, and assign me missions, but you can't claim to have made me. If anyone made me **what** I am it was Itachi!"

The last part slipped out way before I could stop it, but it was true. The circumstances he put me through were far more life changing than anything the stupid council members could come up with. Almost every moment shared between him and I was life changing.

This time the blow came to my stomach. I was prepared though. Them beating on me was nothing new. I was supposed to be a trained soldier, prepared for anything.

"Is that all, council?" I asked in a detached voice. "I have company waiting for me at home."

"You may leave," one of them said. I couldn't get out fast enough.

Before I knew it I was at the bridge again. I stood against the rail, watching the sunset against the water. I glared out past the horizon estimating where he was.

I knew what everyone wanted from me. They all wanted me to kill him. Even Sasuke still wanted him dead; I could tell from the look in his eyes. I knew that I should too. I just couldn't bring myself to want it done. He had hurt me, that much was true, but to kill him for that… it was impossible.

I've killed bad men before, but this was different. It felt like something was telling not to kill him he doesn't deserve it. But I've killed for less of a reason than this. I've killed someone who just murdered one person. He killed at least 100; two of them even raised me. I just couldn't shake the feeling. Something wasn't right.

The most important thing to think about now was the fact that he was coming back for me. And the real question is what am I going to do when he comes back. I'm not going to let him take me. He said before that he wanted to talk. Maybe I can get this out of the way quickly. Whatever it was I had to be prepared for it.

I watched as the last of the light disappeared from the horizon. "I'm ready, Itachi." I said.


	6. One Week Before

None of these characters are based on anyone in real life, especially not the parents. My parents are amazing compared to most. These are just the only parents I could put in my character's parent's place to shape her the way she is. 4329 words in all. be sure to leave reviews please!!!

* * *

"Took you long enough," Sasuke said the second I got in.

"I'm sorry the sunset distracted me," I confessed.

He rolled his eyes. "Between you and Kakashi I'm going to go crazy."

I smiled. "What is it that you want to see exactly?"

"Everything," he said.

"That's a very broad spectrum. Why don't you give me a more specific timeframe?"

"One week before…" He didn't have to continue for me to know what he meant.

I sighed. "I'm skipping over boring parts, and don't kill me for what you might see."

"Promise," he said.

"You aren't going to hear what I'm thinking about the situation, only what's said and seen. Give me a few minutes then touch my hands," I said getting right down to business. If I wasted my time talking he'd just get more angry at me.

I sat down cross-legged, held my hands out in front of me and began to lose myself in my memories. That's what it took for me to project my memories to be visible to others. I needed to lose myself in them and want others to see what I was in.

One week before it began… One week before my life was ruined… One week before he left me…

_**SEVEN DAYS UNTIL THE INCIDENT:**_

_I looked around my personal training field. Every target that I put up was torn to shreds. What a nice warm up. _

I felt Sasuke's hands touch mine but paid them little mind.

_I felt a pair of soft hands snake their way around my waist. I smiled when I felt Itachi's breath on the back of my neck. "Hey," he said. "You're getting better at that." _

_He turned me to face hmi but didn't let me out of his arms. "I'm still lagging. I can feel that I can go faster. I know my mind has the capacity to think faster, but there's something I have to do to my body to make it be able to react the way that my mind does." _

_"I think you're trying to hard," he replied. _

_"Says the boy who sneaks away from his family to go train with a masked stranger," I spat. "Let me go, I've got more to do." _

_"No," he refused. I want you to sit down and relax. You deserve it. No person in Kohana can do what you just did. You deserve a break." _

_"Exactly no one IN KOHANA. What about the Sand Village, or a Rogue? What if someone comes and I'm not ready?" I tried unsuccessfully to get out of his firm grip. I could break the grip of his arms if I wanted to but it felt almost like I was bound to him in more ways than just that. _

_"Relax, Kiyomi. No one can defeat you, and if they can, you and I both know that they wouldn't stand a chance against the two of us working together. We were born to fight side by side. We were made for each other. Together we're unbeatable." _

_"For now," I said, giving up my futile attempt to get away. He pulled me closer to himself. _

_"Even if you fail do you think I'll ever let anything happen to you?" he asked. His voice was low as he whispered the words into my ear. We were very secretive about our relationship. No one could ever know about us. _

_I smiled up at him. I liked it when he was sweet like that; it made me feel special. He leaned down to my level and kissed me. _

This is hurting too much; I need to move ahead.

_**SIX MORE DAYS:**__  
_

"_Our training went well today," Itachi said as we lay under the stars. "I think I learn more from training with you than I do from Ma-the masked guy." _

"_I know who he is Itachi, I'm not stupid," I replied. _

_He sighed. "Sometimes I wish you were. How did you find out?" _

"_Well, I started doing some studying since he takes up so much of your time now. While I was looking up things about your clan in the restricted files I found a picture of him. A few days later he came to talk to me in my bedroom a-"_

"_He was in your bedroom?" Itachi asked. He sounded angry. _

"_Yes." That wasn't the response he wanted. I could feel his arm and chest tighten under my body. _

"_What did he do?" His voice was obviously restrained. _

"_Talk? He stayed at the window the entire time. He didn't get within five feet of me." _

"_What did he talk about?" He relaxed slightly. I wasn't about to tell him that his grip on my hand was nearly crushing my fingers. I quickly decided that I wasn't going to tell him that Mandara Uchiha was training me as well. _

"_Just things. He talked about you a little bit, and what you two were learning. We just talked, Itachi. That's all." _

"_Don't trust him," Itachi warned. _

_I smiled. "I did tell you I came across him in studying right? I know what happened. I'm not stupid. You always seem to forget that." _

"_Good," he said. The uncomfortable silence that followed was nearly unbearable. _

"_If he's so dangerous why are you around him." _

"_Because I have no choice." That was all he would say on the subject. "I guess I should bring you home now." _

_I stood up to let him do the same thing. Less than a second after he was standing I was being carried in his arms bridal style. "Itachi!" I cried out. "Put me down!" _

_He just laughed and kept running. _

_**FOUR MORE DAYS:**_

"_Kiyomi," my Barbie doll stepmother called from down the stairs. I stopped brushing my hair and headed down the steps. _

"_Yes, ma'am," I said. _

"_Mrs. Uchiha wants to talk to you," she said as she motioned towards the door. _

_I walked over to the door, curious as to why Itachi's mom would be here to talk to me. "Hello, Mrs. Uchiha. What can I do for you today?" _

"_Kiyomi," she said. She looked very troubled. "Could you walk with me for a minute?" _

"_Of course," I said. I quickly slipped my shoes on and walked out the door. When we started walking she didn't say anything. I guessed that she was trying to figure out how to word her question. It surprised me when she headed towards the woods instead of towards town. She only started talking when we were out of view from the road. _

"_Kiyomi, you're close to Itachi, right?" she asked. _

"_Yes, ma'am," I responded immediately. I didn't know where she hoped this conversation would go, but judging from our placement she didn't want me to tell Itachi about our meeting. _

"_I-is he doing okay?" she asked. _

"_What do you mean?" _

"_I mean, has he been acting strange lately? He's always going out somewhere to do something. I don't know what he's getting into. Maybe it's just a mother worrying about her child too much, but something's not right. If it's a secret mission that's okay, just tell me that I don't need to know and I'll be on my way." _

"_Mrs. Uchiha..." __**jeez I don't know how to word this**__. I looked over at her, a worried mother. She just wanted to know that her son was okay. "He's being trained by someone… someone that he wouldn't want anywhere near his personal life." That's about as truthful as I can be. "He probably doesn't even want you to know that much." _

"_Oh, well… that wasn't what I was expecting. It's just, he's neglecting Sasuke too. He's never done that before. He adored his brother. I j-"_

"_Adores," I interrupted. She used past tense. Itachi loves his little brother. _

"_Excuse me," she said as though she didn't understand what I said. _

"_He adores his brother." _

_She smiled. "I'm just worried that's all." _

"_I know. Sometimes I worry about him too." _

"_Has he ever missed a meeting with you?" _

"_You mean training? No. Normally he comes and finds me when he wants to train. He always finds me at one-thirty sharp." _

"_No, I meant has he ever missed a meeting with you. Like when he sneaks away to have lunch with you, or watch the stars late at night." I mentally froze. _

"_I-I'm sorry?" I tried my best to make it sound like I had no idea what she was talking about. _

_She laughed. "I'm his mother, he can't fool me. I've seen the way he looks at you when you're over at our house, how happy he is when he comes home late at night, how hard he has to try not to reach out and grab your hand when you're sitting beside him and we're around. When you're not there when we're eating he looks out the window toward your house, or at the empty seat that someone forgot to put away the night before." _

_I ducked my head and tried to hide my blush. "Does Mr. Uchiha know?" I asked, ashamed. _

"_No, my husband is as blind as a bat when it comes to love." She paused. "I'm glad my son has found someone he can spend his life with, and that it's not one of those trashy girls who keep throwing themselves at his feet."_

"_No, he's never been late," I said quietly. "You said that Sasuke was being neglected." I was happy to change the subject. "Maybe I could come over and train with him sometime?" _

"_I'm sure he'd love that." She turned and smiled at me. "I don't' think I'd have to tell you how mad Itachi would be if he knew…" _

"_No, you don't. This conversation never happened Mrs. Uchiha," I promised. _

"_Thank you," she said as she turned to leave the woods. "Oh, by the way," She turned back to me. "I can't imagine anyone that I'd want to be my daughter-in-law more than you." I could feel my face burning when she said that. _

_She left before I could reply. How would I even reply to that? I wasn't even thinking about us getting married. Of course, it was common for girls to find their love at this age in our village. _

_**THREE MORE DAYS:**_

_I looked at myself in the mirror. Itachi better have a good reason for having me so dressed up. I had on a short semi-low cut black kimono with sparkles imbedded into the lower torso area. My waist long hair was tied up in to a neat braid. I had a gentle layer of make-up on, which I found completely useless. I was wearing the ring that Itachi had given me on my right middle finger. It didn't mean anything to the world's standards but to me it was everything, Itachi had given it to me. _

_I watched as Itachi silently slipped through my opened window. "You look wonderful," he said in a whispered tone as he embraced me gently. He kissed me and spun me around. All of my anger for him dissipated that quickly. A smile broke on my face. _

_The room stopped spinning and I could finally see him. He was wearing a nice blue shirt that hugged his muscles in all of the right places and pair of black pants. "I could say the same about you," I said. I giggled slightly. Great, the enchanting atmosphere that always surrounded us was getting to my head already. _

"_I'm taking you to diner," he explained as we both snuck out the window again._

"_Really? Where?" I asked. I didn't know of any place that required dressing up in Kohana. _

"_Wait and see," he said. I did just that. We walked hand-in-hand along empty streets. If someone walked by one of us would fall behind to make it seem like we weren't together. We had to keep us secret. _

"_I heard that you trained with my brother today," Itachi said, making small talk. _

"_I did," I confessed. _

"_Why?" The dreaded question. _

"_Because I know how much time you're spending with your new trainer and I knew that Sasuke would be lonely."_

"_You know that I know when you're lying," he said simply. _

"_A family member of yours came by and asked if I had some time to spare." That wasn't technically a lie. _

"_Hmm... Did you have fun?"_

"_Yes we did. I was helping him with his aim. I like your little brother, He actually listens when I tell him that his stance is off." _

"_That's because his actually is off." _

"_So is yours," I mumbled. _

"_What was that?" he asked. He knew perfectly well what I said. _

"_You were .05 cm's off. If it were a moving target…" _

"_Well, it wasn't. My stance wasn't off there was heavy wind." _

_I rolled my eyes at him. "Whatever, your stance was still off." _

_I felt my back slammed into an ally wall, my hands were pinned above my head. "Did you want to say that again?" he asked. I could hear his teasing voice through his dangerous tone. _

"_Your. Stance. Was. Off." I made every word sound like a sentence. I looked straight into his eyes, daring him to try anything. _

_He pressed his body tightly against mine, allowing me no room to escape. I should have take advantage of it before. His eyes flashed dangerously. "I really don't think it was." His breath taunted my lips. He was evil. He moved his lips gently against my cheek. I tried not to move, not to give away emotion. _

"_I could have fixed it if you had let me," I said. My voice sounded weak. I could feel him smirk against my skin. _

"_How can you fix something that was never broken?" he asked, moving his lips down my jawbone. _

_I'll save the argument for later. "Didn't we have somewhere to go?" I asked. _

_He chuckled; I could feel his body moving through my own as if we were one. "We do," he said. He stood there a second more before he moved away from me. I took a deep breath in and wondered how long I was holding it. He offered me his hand and we continued down the street. I very carefully avoided talking about stances for a little while. _

_We had just gotten out of dinner and I was starting to head home. I felt his hand grab mine and pull me in a different direction. "Where are we going?" I asked. _

"_You'll see," he said tauntingly. _

"_That's what you said last time," I whined. _

"_I didn't realize there was a limit on my word choices." I could hear the smile in his voice._

_We continued with idle chatter for a little while, specifically avoiding stances. We passed houses with sleeping people and entered the woods. We kept walking for what seemed like forever. Finally we stopped in front of this beautiful giant house in the middle of the woods. _

"_We're here," Itachi announced. _

"_What is this place?" I could hear the wonder in my voice as I let go of his hand and started towards the building. _

"_This, will one day be our house," he said. _

_I turned to look at him. "What?" I asked. "Our house?" _

"_If you want it to be." _

_I could sense my confusion and excitement. The excitement part was the only part that had any clue what he was talking about because I was almost completely lost. _

_He could see how confused I was. He chuckled. "Kiyomi, I don't care what my family would say to you not being a Uchiha. I was wondering if… when we're old enough of course, you would consider marrying me." _

_That was a shock. I had never even considered marriage. Why would I, we're only thirteen. Sure, people secure their future at a young age in the village, but Itachi never seemed like the kind to do this kind of thing. He obviously had been thinking about his future a lot for some reason though. Right now there was no doubt in my mind that, that was what I wanted to do. I couldn't see myself anywhere else. _

"_Of course, Itachi," I replied. I didn't think that he'd actually be able to keep his promise, of course, but there was no harm in saying yes now. _

_**TWO MORE DAYS:**_

_I opened the door to my house. I had started training early so I ended at twelve-o-clock today. "Father," I called. I wanted to tell him what I found out. _

"_For crying out loud girl! Do you have to be so loud?" I followed the sound of his voice to where I already knew he was. He was in the kitchen fixing another alcoholic beverage for himself. _

"_Father, guess what," I made sure I was quieter now. _

"_I don't have time to play guessing games. I have too big of a headache. Leave me alone!" He pushed me out of the kitchen before I could say any more. _

_I'd go tell my stepmother then. "Mother," I called, quieter for my stepfather. Yes I called them 'father' and 'mother' but I was adopted when I was young. I knew where she was too. She would be in her room doing something with her looks. _

_I knocked softly on the door. I didn't hear anything, so I figured that it was okay to go inside. That was a mistake. _

_I opened the door and saw two people Leaning against the wall, there was a man kissing my stepmother. I was out of there in a second. That wasn't something I **never** wanted to see. I went up to my room and just sat there. _

_At exactly one-thirty sharp Itachi jumped through my window. "Hey, why weren't you out-what happened?" I guess I looked as chaotic as my brain was. _

"_I walked in on my stepmother and some guy. My stepfather's drunk again. Same old story," I said. _

"_It's different this time. It never upsets you this much." _

"_Yeah well, maybe I'm just tired of it!" _

"_Oh crap… you know him." He always knew what was wrong. _

_I looked away. Was I really that readable? _

"_Who is he?" _

"_Look downstairs, I'm sure he's still there." _

"_Um… I'd rather not." He looked at my door as though it was the only thing keeping him from his worst nightmare. _

_I didn't say anything. _

"_Just tell me who it was." His voice, though persuasive, was gentle. _

_I looked away from him. I felt him sit down on the edge of my bed. His arms wrapped around me gently and pulled me into his chest. I gave up. "It's Inabi Uchiha." _

_Again his body tightened. "Police," he hissed. "They should know better. And a Uchiha policeman, that's unacceptable. It's people like him who kill the name of our clan."_

_I turned and put my hand over his mouth. His voice was rising too high. "That's why I didn't want to tell you." I moved my hand from his moth and stood up. I walked over to my window and looked out at the peaceful neighbors. They never had troubles like this. _

_He stood up a few minutes after me. I was sure that he was trying to control his temper. "I needed to know." His voice came from directly behind me. _

"_You can't do anything. He's aloud to have an affair, so is she. It's bad but they won't be punished for it." _

"_Yes I can. I can tell his wife." _

"_No, don't get involved in things that aren't yours, please." I turned to look at him. "Please, just leave it alone." He seemed to freeze when he looked at me. _

_He looked like he was trying to say something. His mouth opened but he wasn't saying anything. "O-okay," he said finally. "I won't." _

"_Thank you, Itachi." I hugged him. Sometimes he needs more physical thanks than verbal, so I stayed in his arms that day. We were comforted by just being with each other. We didn't train that day; we just stayed together all night. That was the first time we fell asleep in each other's arms. He left early that morning when he had to go train._

_**ONE MORE DAY:** _

_I met with Mandara again today. He trained me, as he usually did once a week then left as quickly as he came. I trained with Sasuke, and for the life of me I couldn't find Itachi. He didn't come and meet me at one-thirty like he normally did, and he wasn't there at night either. I wasn't going to admit it, but that startled me. _

_**THE DAY OF: **_

_It was early in the morning when I first woke up. The sun wasn't even rising in the sky. I never woke up this early. Something was wrong. I looked carefully around the room. As my eyes passed by my window Itachi silently crept in. _

"_I'm sorry I didn't meet you yesterday. Some… things came up that were inescapable. Today's going to be pretty busy too. I'll be back later tonight though," he said. He started to climb back out the window. _

"_Itachi wait!" I said in an urgent whisper. He stopped. "Can't I at least have a hug?" I asked innocently. I was going to say something else but something about his posture told me not to. _

_He turned back to me, walked to my bed and hugged me quickly. Something was defiantly wrong. _

_When he reached my window he turned back to look at me again. He looked sad. He was in front of me in the blink of an eye. This time he hugged me tighter as if we were never going to see each other again. Then he was gone._

_I waited up for Itachi that night. I knew that he was going to need me. I saw him creep through my window silently. He was in his ANBU outfit, but he was missing his cloak. He was limping as he walked. _

"_What happened?" I asked, slightly panicked._

"_I'm tired, Kiyomi. Help me," he said. _

_He wanted me to use my healing technique. I forced my chakra into my hands and it quickly became visible as a blue glow. He put his hands on top of mine and I forced my chakra into his body. It was slightly painful for me, but if it helped Itachi…_

"_What happened?" I asked again. _

"_I was in a fight," he said. He was watching my hands intensely. _

"_Why? Was it Inabi?" I asked. _

"_Him and many others." _

"_I told you not to get into other peoples business." _

"_That's not the reason." _

"_Then why were you fighting him?" I could feel my body quickly growing tired. I began to pull my arms away. _

_Itachi grabbed into my hands with such force that I thought he might break much more than the skin that was broken. "They were fighting me because I was killing them. I killed my entire clan." _

_I could feel my face turn dead white. "What!" That was way to loud. It would have woken up my parents. _

_I was getting to tired to control myself. I had to get my arms away. I kept trying to pull them away. Nothing was working. I watched as my blue chakra slowly changed to black. As the black appeared the pain grew worse. It was like nothing I had ever known before. It turned my blood into liquid fire on my already burning skin. The black chakra quickly spread across my arms to my upper torso as Itachi kept taking the last of my blue chakra. _

"_LET GO!" I screamed. I could feel tears leaking from my eyes. It just made the burning worse. The black chakra was spreading across my body. _

_That's when my parents came in. Itachi let go and went straight for the first person to enter the room, my most likely drunken stepfather. I shot up to try to help him, but the pain got worse as I moved. It was killing me, I noticed. Burning my skin and soon my organs. _

_My mind felt like the only controlled thing in my body, and it was telling me to save my stepmother. I got to her as quickly as I could. Standing hurt alone, placed with running it was crippling. I stood in front of my stepmother, facing the red eyes that had promised never to turn against me. _

_I felt the kunai forced into my stomach and I screamed. The liquid that poured out was worse than the blood on my hands. It was worse than lava. I was blacked out before I hit the ground. _

My eyes snapped opened and I was breathing heavily. Sasuke had pulled his hands from mine and was staring at me from a few feet away.

"You two were a couple?" he asked.

"Questions later, sleep now," I commanded as I stood up. He listened without protest and I was just grateful that I made it to my bedroom before I passed out.


	7. The Day After

_**THE DAY AFTER:**_

_My eyes opened slowly. My body hurts. Breathing was enough to nearly kill me. Itachi, he did this to me. He killed his clan and incapacitated the one person who could stop him. He killed his clan… Sasuke! _

_That was the only thought that could bring me to my feet. I needed to save him. I was barely bleeding, but I was bleeding. I don't know how I was able to run; I just know that I have to. I have to get to Sasuke. _

_It took me less time than I thought hit would to get there. I estimated that it'd take me longer to get there with how much pain I was in. It took me less time than normal. _

_When I got to the Uchiha compound my mouth dropped. It was covered in blood. There were kunai's in the walls, over the clan insignia, and in the ground. Even with all of the blood I could find no bodies. The sickly scent of death and decay filled my nose. _

_I followed the disgusting scent through the compound and into the woods. It was it's strongest just near the edge of the woods. There was a sharp drop down a sharp but small cliff. I could feel my face turn even whiter than it had been. What has he done? _

_It was a body dump. All of his clan, they were all there. The scent alone was enough to make me sick. I could feel my stomach turning as I leaned away from the 'evidence' as the council would see it. The only thing that came out of my mouth was blood. My body shook violently. I don't know how much more blood I can afford to lose. _

_I controlled myself and jumped down in front of the giant pile of bodies. There could still be someone alive in there. I had to know if he killed Sasuke. I closed my eyes and used my mind to look for a conscious one, or at least a working one. _

_ I was surprised with the sudden intensity of my Kekkai Genkai. I could sense people outside of the compound who were awake and moving around. Conscious callers, they were practically screaming compared to what I was trying to find. I was looking for a whisper, the slight sound of someone's mind reacting to my presence. The people outside of the compound were looking around for me, so I knew it was working. _

_ **'Kiyomi!'** it was Sasuke. I was running before I had pinpointed his whereabouts. It was only a mental call; normally I can't hear any mental calls. He was weak, tired, maybe dying. I had to find him._

"_Sasuke!" I called. "SASUKE!" _

_I started towards his home. Every step I took burned more than the last. I had to find him. "Sasuke!" _

_I found him! "No, Sasuke." I ran to his side on the ground. He was face down in the dirt. I turned him around. He was still breathing, thank Heaven. He needed healing. I had to get him to a hospital. More running. _

_I had to get there. I'm not sure what happened to Sasuke, I don't know how long he has. I had to stay focused on him, not the pain. He needed my help. He needs me. _

* * *

"_You were lucky Kiyomi," A voice said from beside me as my eyes slowly opened. _

"_Where's Sasuke?" I asked, immediately sitting up. I ignored the awful burning through my body, and the stinging pain in my stomach. _

"_He's safe," the doctor said. The only words that meant anything to me right now. I allowed him to push me back into my pillow. He had been trying unsuccessfully for a full 20 seconds. His grip and body heat had made the burning worse; the pain only made me want to rebel more. The pain was making me stronger. _

"_He would have survived no matter when we found him. You on the other hand..." he paused, probably for dramatic effect. "If he hadn't been .05 cm's off, you'd be dead right now." _

_My eyes widened in surprise. My eyes closed and I nodded slowly. ".05, huh?" Itachi was trying to tell me something. He did it on purpose, but why? _

I jolted up in my bed. The light was shining through the windows. Crap, it's morning. I could hear Sasuke walking around the house already. I might as well face the music now.

I stood up and changed my clothes before heading out my door. I held my hand up before he could start his interrogation. "One thing first, I'm not answering stupid questions."

"You two were a couple?" he asked, not listing to my comment.

"That's a stupid question," I replied. "From what you saw, what do you think?"

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

I walked to the kitchen and started preparing breakfast while we talked. "Because your father would have disapproved of me. I wasn't a Uchiha."

"You're still loyal to him aren't you?"

"He's not loyal to me, why would I be to him?"

"That's not answering my question."

"No, I'm not."

"Who was he training with?"

"I can't tell you that." I held up my hand before he protested. "It's for your own safety that I keep his name a secret. I just woke up, you should give me credit for even giving you any answers, even if they aren't what you want to hear." I really didn't want to hear him complain at me, not today.

"Why was his trainer here?"

"He wanted revenge on the people that betrayed him."

"Did he get it?"

"Yes." I grabbed the toast in the air that popped out of the toaster.

"When did you two…" He let his question linger in the air.

"Get together?" I finished. "Do you remember Itachi's first mission with me? We came back about a week and a half later. We were both wounded and tired. He made me wait a week before we went back. It was probably a good idea. I suppose we 'got together' then."

"That was a year before… You were together that long?" he asked.

"We were very careful but you were also very little then. You probably couldn't have figured it out if we kissed in front of you." I laughed. It was pretty funny that he was so upset over this. "Why so many questions about our relationship?"

"Because it's my brother! He's unlovable."

"You loved him too once," I reminded him.

That upset him. He looked away from me before he spoke again. "I'm just… shocked. He didn't tell you anything about this at all?"

I stopped just before I sat down. I had asked myself that same question. I would have thought that he would have told me before he did something stupid like that. But he was trying to t-NO! I can't start that again. It was just coincidence. He didn't do it on purpose; his stance was off, like I had said before. "No, he didn't tell me."

"Why did you pause?"

"I was just thinking that's all."

"Had you seen him before yesterday?"

"No, just three times yesterday." I decided it was best to confess it all now.

"Three times!" He sounded outraged.

"Yes, the first I was ready to fight with him. The second was after you left me. The third… well you know."

"Why didn't you tell me about the first?" He was yelling.

"Because I knew you'd do exactly what you're doing now. You aren't even thinking of a strategy on how to defeat him. All you're thinking is 'I want to kill him'."

"I have the right to know!"

"Are you saying that my judgment was incorrect? Did you have a strategy?"

"You should have told me! I would have figured something out!" he yelled

"I knew I shouldn't have told you anything. Go home Sasuke," I said as I pointed towards the door.

"But what about training?" he asked.

"What about it? Obviously I misjudged you. If I can't judge you correctly how can I judge what sort of training you need?"

He looked away. "Fine, I'll go find Kakashi." I few seconds passed before I heard the door slam shut.

I sighed. "I wish it didn't have to be like this, Sasuke, but you're too thick headed to learn the easy way," I said to myself as I looked back at the door. "You need to think things through."


	8. Four Weeks Later: Life is Good

**Four weeks later**

Sasuke didn't come back to train with me anymore. I knew exactly what that meant. In some ways knew him better than he knew himself. He was planning on leaving, and he knew I'd see it and stop him if he was training with me. I wasn't going to try and stop him. They boy needed to make his own mistakes.

He had probably lost most of the respect he had for me anyway. How ironic is it that when I finally gain the trust of the village, I lose the trust of the one person who has trusted me since the beginning? I honestly couldn't care less about what the village thought of me.

At the beginning I did, when Itachi had first left, and I could see the accusing, hateful stares, I could feel them. It was as if I was the one who killed everyone myself. Part of me wanted to think that all of the villagers were blind. Did they not see that I was in the hospital, nearly dead? Did they not see that I was the one who saved Sasuke? That was when they watched me closest too, when I was with Sasuke. Every time I made a sudden movement they would all flinch.

But all of that has changed now. Everything's completely turned around. People wave at me on the streets. The civilians come to me when they need help or protection. They all think that I'm their savior now.

My missions were suffocating and boring until we got our new Hokage. Now they're just boring, as usual. Tsunade did have me training with her once a week. I don't know why, but she seems to take comfort in training me.

Talk about an infuriating woman. Her office is always cluttered. She refuses to do her paperwork. Most of the time, the paperwork is her problem. I normally find ways to ignore it. I only mind when I can't see her when I'm giving her my mission reports, like today.

"You did very well Kiyomi," she said from behind her piles of papers. "I have another mission for you now. This one's classified above top secret. I want you to find an old friend of yours."

"You want me to locate Itachi Uchiha?" I asked.

Him again, I thought. He already broke his promise can't I just forget about him? Either he broke it or was planning on taking his dear sweet time to complete it. I guess I can't trust his word after all. How well do I really know him now? I mean, I knew him then, and back then he always kept his word, even to his enemy's, but this is now. How much has he changed?

"Yes, it is necessary," she said.

I sighed. "Can I request permission to kill?"

"Kiyomi," she said. She sounded like she was scolding a child. "He was your friend."

"Was and is are two different things. I wasn't talking about killing him anyway," I replied sourly. There are some others on the team that deserve death. "If you won't grant me permission to kill I ask for permission to study. I want to learn everything I can about his allies before I attack with them on his side. I also fear that I do not know him well enough now to be able to win in a fight of this magnitude without death for one of us as a probable result."

"Okay. I want Itachi captured, not killed. Bring him back here and we'll take care of the rest."

"Yes ma'am. I'll depart as soon as I believe I'm ready."

"Good. You may leave." I did as she said.

She was defiantly better than the council. Granted, I got hurt more in training with her than with the council. I still liked her much better. She didn't resort to pain when she lost her temper most of the time. I felt as though I was more free to speak my mind near her than I was with anyone else who has a high rank in the politics of Kohana.

The sun was setting in the sky as I was walking home. It created beautiful colors on the horizon, especially when set against the water. I was so glad that my new home was on the water. I might actually keep this one. I swung opened the door and stepped onto the creaking wood floor.

There was a nice rug with a couch when you first came into my home. The rug was in a small hallway that led to the living room. I had some furniture in there and a nice fireplace, nothing extravagant, just workable things. My kitchen was decent sized, and had the usual appliances in it. The only really nice thing I had in my kitchen was an expensive set of beautiful kitchen knives.

My bedroom was the most lavished room in the house, because I was rarely ever home, and the only place I spend the most time was there. I owned a dark stained pine canopy four poster king sized bed. There was beautiful crimson drapes hanging from the bed frame, which matched my black bedding completely. A nightstand that matched the color of the bed's wood sat on either side of the bed. Both nightstands were decorated with books of many kinds. My dresser was the same wood material, and had a mirror on top of it.

There was a jewelry box on top of the dresser, holding jewelry I inherited from my biological parents. It was dropped off with me at the orphanage, and I when I was adopted my stepmother took it. I got it all back, plus some, when she was murdered. Most of the pieces were beautifully ornate, and the type of jewelry you'd only wear at an expensive gathering, like a ball or high end meeting. I've never warn any of it before, but didn't have the heart to sell it because it somehow makes me feel closer to my real parents by keeping it.

I went straight to the shower the second I stepped foot inside the door, and I stayed in there for a little while, letting the warm water soothe my muscles and heal the cuts that I got from my last mission. It was just a B ranked mission, not too hard. It didn't require much thought. I was going through an old tomb to find missing artifacts that were stolen from a family many centuries ago and giving them back to their rightful kin.

When I finally got out the mirrors were all steamed up to the point where I couldn't tell if I was looking at my reflection or that of the latest criminal I came in contact with. I couldn't help but smile when I saw my warm, fuzzy clothes laid out over the sink. I had forgotten that I had set them out; maybe I had done it before I left the house this morning. It was a black tank top that fit very comfortably and a pair of blue sweatpants that were fuzzy on the inside. I had to role the tops of them down a few times to fit into them properly, but I didn't care about that too much.

I got out of the bathroom and dried my hair with a towel before brushing it through. I fell backwards onto my plush bed. I picked up a random book from my bedside and began reading. It was an old story that no one had ever found the ending to. I had already read it about a dozen times, but each time I came up with a different ending for it.

To say the least my life was going well. Things could be better, but I don't have a genin to train. I don't have any stupid flashback moments anymore. I have a house by the lake. I get to watch the sunset from my bedroom window. I'm paid better than I was before. Tsunade has been training me. All in all I love life and it loves me back.

I set my book on my lap and looked out of my window to the sun set. I loved the colors in the sky reflected against the water. A soft smile formed on my face. The colors danced before my eyes, gently forming shapes and pictures.

I fell asleep in less than an hour.

* * *

The shadows danced against the wall as the moon climbed higher into the darkness of the sky. It cast shadows over her slender figure. The floorboards creaked slightly, but it did not disturb the sleeping girl in the least. In the entranceway to her house stood a shadowed cloaked figure, carefully searching the area for traps. He smiled slightly when he found none, and carefully continued with his mission. He started searching through her things, through rooms, trying to find something, anything.

He stopped in the kitchen, seeing the newest model of kitchen knives sitting on her counter. He picked one up, admiring the fine craftsmanship of the blade. He could almost see his reflection in the metal. He turned the blade around in his hand a few times, testing its weight, and balance. They were good, he noticed. He might have to get himself a set. He continued into the bedroom, not letting go of his newly acquired weapon.

The figure stopped before he entered the threshold, for he knew that she would wake up if he dared step closer. He was lucky that he had made it this far without being discovered, he wasn't about to test it anymore.

His eyes scanned her room, looking for anything that would hint at her attachments. All he could see that could even remotely have any meaning to her were the mountains of overused books around her house. There was nothing. This girl had nothing to tie her to anyone. There were no pictures of family members. There was not one single thing anywhere tying her to anything.

Still he could sense something. There was something holding her to someone, he knew it. There's always something, he just had to find it. He could sense that there was _someone_. It was almost strong enough to touch but there was nothing!

The man sighed and took one last look at the girl before retreating into the shadows.


	9. 05 the Seeds of Doubt

**Thump! **

I bolted straight up in my bed, my senses fully alert. My eyes immediately searched for the source of the noise. My book had fallen on the floor. Did I fall asleep with that thing again?

I sighed and stretched enjoying the feeling of my muscles waking up. It's light outside, I might as well get up, I thought while gazing out my opened window. My feet hit the cold wood floor and a shiver ran up my spine upon contact. This shiver had nothing to do with the cold. Someone had been here; I could feel it. I glared at the doorway. "I'm not moving again," I spat in a hateful voice, wishing that the person actually had the guts to face me in person.

I sighed and headed to my closet to get dressed. I started to reach for my uniform, but stopped when I realized that I wouldn't need it. The guards had a dress code for people who wanted to examine top secret files, no ninja uniform. All of my nonprofessional clothes had ceased to become useful to me, so I was lucky that I found anything at all. I picked out a simple long sleeved white blouse with a black knee high skirt. The one thing I knew about the archive rooms was that the people there were very strict. You need to do everything their way.

This is going to be so tedious, I realized before even setting foot outside my door, reading through old dusty files day after day trying to find something that I don't already know about my old friend and sworn enemy. Last time I did this type of research I was seeing old scrolls and parchment in my sleep for two weeks straight, I just hope that it goes away faster with further exposure.

I knew that it would be painful as well, but I tried to avoid that thought path as best as I could. I never officially looked back on the events of that night until today. The thought of a man slaughtering his entire family always repulsed me, and having to write a report on that very same subject sent chills down my spine. It was more than enough to keep me as far away from his files as possible. Now, I have to go and read them all in chronological order to deduce just how much of my supposed former friend was hidden from me while he was still in the village.

I put my hair up in a makeshift pony-tail and headed out to face my nightmares of scrolls, dust and parchment. The light had barely reached the treetops when my shoes touched the ground. The crisp fall air gently caressed my face, with cold hands that threatened to pull me back into my memories. I could feel chills running up my back, all the way to the base of my unusually overexposed neck.

I sighed and started walking at a brisk pace, pretending to be invisible. If I was lucky I'd be able to make it to the building before anyone gets into the streets of Konoha. I realized that I'd have to stay late in order to avoid the people again, but that is easily arranged, I prefer scrolls and parchment over people anyday.

The building that I wanted to get into happened to be the top of the top secret area and was guarded twenty-four seven. It looked like a normal, gated business building from the outside, until you approached the gate and found the guards hut. There was an old man sitting behind the window reading what appeared to be yesterday's newspaper. He seemed to have permanent frown lines on his face. From what I saw he appeared to be docile, but I have learned not to underestimate old men.

"State your business," the old guardsman croaked as I approached. He never moved his eyes from the paper in his hands.

"Research," I said calmly. Even the sound of the word began to bore me

"Of?" the old man asked impatiently as though I was supposed to know the information that he needed before he asked it.

"Uchiha, Itachi," I said, trying not to take offense to his… uncivil tone. The man's head snapped up from his newspaper.

"That information is classified," the old man said jadedly.

"I have been granted permission by the Hokage herself to research my next target." My words rang with the authority that I had acquired from years of training in the field. I was hoping that I could do this without having to go and get Tsunade; she wouldn't like having to come all the way down here to get me in.

The old man hesitated and looked as if he wanted to protest, but knew that he could not. The wrinkles in his forehead grew deeper and he grimaced making the lines on his face look even more permanent, if that was possible. "You'll need this," the old man said discontentedly. He handed me a laminated pass before opening the gate and going back to his old newspaper.

I smiled. "Thank you," I said, trying to be polite.

"Yeah, whatever," the old man grumbled. He waved a hand at me dismissively. I didn't like how rude he was, but it's not like there's anything I could do about it. Rudeness is epidemic.

I walked through the gates and sighed. I knew what waited for me on the other side of that stupid door; hundreds of old, dusty files that I could almost hear calling my name. It was as if they all wanted to suck me in and consume me with their plain and mediocre, mind numbing information.

I used the laminate pass to unlock the building The old doors creaked opened slowly and loudly. I can imagine that, if this had been a house, even the soundest of sleepers would be alert to any intruder. Maybe this is what I needed for my house, a really loud door. A mound of dust seemed to burst through the doors the further they were opened. The concrete floors were layered with filth.

I opened the door completely and slid inside carefully before closing it. My eyes widened in horror. This was going to be worse than I thought. The files had no manner of organization what so ever. Everything had been thrown around like someone had trashed the place. There were scrolls littering almost every inch of the floor. This place had to be organized before I could begin to do anything with it. I sighed. Could this village do nothing for itself?

* * *

By lunch the first room and half of the second were organized. I had started to find some of Itachi and my old missions in the second room. I didn't really expect to find anything new. I had been his partner for almost the entire time he was working in the village. We rarely went on separate missions.

I had written more than half of the reports anyway. Itachi always did hate to write out reports. He'd always sneak off when it came time to write, leaving me alone with all the paperwork. It would make me so angry, but he'd always find a way to make it up to me once I was finally free. I could feel a smile slowly pulling at my lips.

…_Off by .05cm_… I read. It caught my attention. I reread through the file, corroborating the story with my memories. We were supposed to be killing someone who killed their parents. When we found out his story we felt sorry for him. He had no choice but to kill his parents in order to get out of the situation, but we were told to kill him if he fought, and he fought. Itachi didn't want to kill him. He had thrown the final kunai, nearly killing the boy, but missing by .05cm's. When he got back his story was told to the Hokage and he was permitted to live. Itachi had saved the boy's life.

.05cm… Slowly I noticed that it was everywhere, and not just years ago. People that survived Itachi's attacks recently only survived because Itachi's aim was off by .05cm's it was everywhere. I never noticed that before. It was like his signature. All of the bodies found couldn't get help fast enough. Every one of them that was recent was killed from bleeding out of a wound that was .05cm's off. One would think that he would have improved his aim.

I sighed heavily and stood up defiantly from the files that I had piled in front of myself. Nothing in them hinted at his betrayal; nothing was helping me! Everything was showing signs of exactly the opposite. His profile from the files alone made it seem like he loved people, he wouldn't want to see anyone hurt, especially ones he loved, or the innocent. I needed to be alone to think.

The house, my destination came to me completely on its own; it was the one place I felt truly alone. The one place I could really think. It's probably a horrible thing for me to feel most at home in the house _he_ promised me, but I can't help it. That house is the only place where no one has ever been but me. I suppose, to most, it would be an unsettling thought, to be in the building where someone who tried to kill you said that you would both live, but did he really try to kill me?

The second I stepped out of the dusted room I realized that something was wrong. Aside from the wind caressing my calves, it was entirely too noisy. Immediately I ducked into the nearest wooded area. There was no way that I'd let anyone I knew see me in… this. I shivered at the thought of one of my co-workers, or worse, someone who works under me, seeing me like this, professional in a business manner, not ninja.

I completely can't stand the way I look outside of my training, or work attire. It's deceptive and it makes me feel exposed, and dirty. I frowned at the thought.

I couldn't really run in the skirt that I was wearing, and I kind of want to walk anyway, it gave me more time to think. Slowly, I made my way through the forest, my mind filled with thoughts of Itachi, the man I poisoned. I found myself smiling when I thought of him like that; the man I poisoned. I bet that he's past trying to beg for death right now. He's probably getting use to it, and is starting to move around some, maybe talking. Soon enough he should be ready to make the journey here to fulfill his promise, if he ever intended to keep it, that is. Knowing Itachi, if keeping his promise were his intention he would have already done it by now, or at least the Itachi I knew would have.

The recovery is always the worst part of it all. Unless you have a strong reason, it seems nearly unbearable. Slowly my mind faded back to the past once more, revealing memories that I had blocked out long ago, not from emotional pain, but physical this time.

FLASHBACK

_48…49…50. My entire body collapsed after my fiftieth push up. The burning seemed to be attacking my muscles with a fierceness that escalated with use of them. It felt like my muscles were slowly being devoured by this… thing inside of me. I had been training for hours and couldn't get past that number, 50. Will I ever recover, I asked myself. _

"_Kiyomi," a familiar child-like voice called. It was the same voice I had known since the day I had met him, but there was something different about it, as though it were lacking emotion. I recognized the tone quickly because I had been hearing it a lot lately from my own mouth. It sounded out of place coming from the mouth of a child._

"_Sasuke," I replied, trying to be cheery for his sake. "They finally let you out of the hospital?" I asked. _

"_Yeah," he said. He stopped in front of me and shifted his weight uncomfortably. He didn't know what to say to me. I couldn't really blame him, I didn't know what to tell him either. _

"_You have something to tell me?" _

"_Yes," he replied. The pause that followed seemed more awkward for him than for me. "Thank you for saving me." _

"_Someone would have come to find you if I hadn't," I replied turning away from him. For some reason his gratitude made me feel uneasy. _

"_W-were you training?" he asked. _

"_Kind of," I sighed. I don't think that I'll ever fully recover though, I confessed to myself alone. _

"_Could I watch?" he asked innocently. _

_Brilliant, I thought, an audience just what I need. "I'm still recovering, Sasuke," I told him, really not wanting him to watch me. _

"_I know," he said, still watching me. "You got out of the hospital a day before me." _

_I sighed. I can always trust Sasuke to know too much. "If you must," I said discontentedly. _

_Slowly I began again. The first thirty were the easiest. I was counting, and had gotten to about five before Sasuke started talking again. _

"_Why?" he asked, in a quiet childlike voice. The pain in his tone stopped me short. My head snapped up to look at him. He had tears in his eyes and it looked as though someone had ripped the heart from his chest. _

_I sighed and switched my position to one of sitting on the ground. I had plunged myself headfirst into training to avoid that very question. Why? _

_I motioned for Sasuke to join me. Instead of sitting on the ground beside me, he crawled into my lap. I knew that this wasn't normal for him, but he was still just a kid with emotions. His pain was one that seemed to flow straight through me. I could feel what he was feeling. I hugged him to myself, trying to comfort him in some way, knowing perfectly well that this would be the last time he'd let me hold him like this. _

"_He…I don't know, Sasuke, I don't know," I confessed._

_I could feel his tears staining my shirt. The poison that tainted my body began to protest against his expression of emotion. It felt like someone had set my skin on fire where his tears touched it. As much as it burned, I couldn't flinch away from the pain; somehow it made me want to hold him closer. It sounded sick, and masochistic, but I was enjoying the pain. No, not the pain, but the sense of power that enduring the pain gave me. _

"_I hate him!" Sasuke exclaimed suddenly. "I hate him." _

"_I know," I said. "I know." _

END FLASHBACK


	10. The House

The old doors slowly creaked opened to reveal a hallway leading to slightly older style, completely furnished, living room. The house in itself was normal, aside from its hidden location. It was very spacious, despite the fact that it was only one story. The rooms were meticulously clean because I've only felt the need to get furniture alone, and no more than that. There is nothing else to clutter the otherwise empty house.

_FLASHBACK_

_I sighed in content after finishing a rigorous workout. Everything is back to normal at last. I was finally able to complete a training that I normally went through. I was actually improving in my strength. I was moving at a faster pace than I had thought possible. It was as though that poison had finally made my body as fast as my brain. I wasn't completely sure whether to love it or hate it. _

_I definitely hated the man who gave it to me. There was no escaping that. If he ever showed his face around here again I will not hesitate to kill him! He tried to kill me! He tried to kill Sasuke! That little weasel of a man doesn't deserve to live in this world! _

_I took a deep breath and slowly unclenched my fists. My nails had started to dent into my skin again. I looked down at my hands, remembering placing them into Itachi's. I had helped him so willingly. I had fallen for it, and neglected every sign of betrayal that he had shown because I loved him. I thought that he loved me as well, and therefore would never deceive me in such a way. I was stupid. _

_I could feel people staring at me as I walked down the street. They all stared at me. Some of them whispered. "Look it's her," I heard one say. "Stay away! She'll betray us just like he did." Every day I would hear it, and choose to ignore it. Today I would be given no choice. _

"_Hey," I heard a man call in a drunk voice. "The Murderer's lover, over here!"_

_I turned to the man, knowing he was talking to me. "I'm sorry sir," I began. "You must be mistaken. I could not love someone who murders mercilessly." _

"_Well then I got news for you doll face," he said. "Your boyfriend killed his clan mer-ce-less-ly," he said, struggling with his words. _

"_He is not my boyfriend," I responded, in the most emotionless voice I could manage. _

"_Are you going to betray us too!" a woman's voice called from behind me. I turned around to find a crowd watching my conversation with the drunken man. _

"_No," I said, pleadingly. "I could never. I love this village." _

"_Yeah, that's what he said!" another man argued. _

"_He didn't mean it though! I do!" I protested. _

"_Yeah, are you going to sit there and tell us that you didn't know what he was about to do? You're his partner, you had to know!" The voices were coming from everywhere. _

"_No, I didn't! He tried to kill me! Why would he do that if I knew?" _

"_You're just like him!" _

"_No!" I yelled, breaking free from the crowd. All I remember was running. I let my feet guide me to wherever they thought they had to go._

_It surprised me that my body thought that the place I needed to go was here. This was the place that Itachi had promised me. The evil man who had tried to kill me! Why had I come here for comfort, when I wanted to get away from him?_

_END FLASHBACK_

That alone was strange, but the stranger thing was that I _was_ comforted here. Every time I came to this place I always left more resolved and happier. Now that I think about the reason I have come up with an acceptable explanation; not every moment with Itachi was complete misery when I was a kid. I actually loved being around him, and what he did won't ever change the fact that I always felt comforted by his presence, that is, before he had become a homicidal maniac.

This house, along with every other place that we shared, had come to represent the Itachi that I knew as a kid, the much kinder side of him. All of our happy memories were amplified in this house. I had promised myself that here, I would never reflect on the bad, because this was my place of peace and happiness. I could see him and I holding hands, or playing tackle tag when we were younger. I still knew that Itachi was evil, but I didn't think about those moments here. Not all of my memories of Itachi were bad.

_Not all of Itachi is bad_. The thought that entered my head didn't sound like my own. No, all of Itachi had to be bad. There is no going back from what he has done. Itachi is bad!

I let myself fall down onto the couch without a second thought. My mind was locked too far in the past to give my surroundings much conscious thoughts. I was slowly playing through my painful recovery in my mind. It didn't take long for me to recover, but it was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my life. The harder I worked, the more it burned. Ironically, the only thing that got me through that time, was him.

Every time that I closed my eyes his image floated inside my head, the sight of him holding the katana; the look on his face as he slaughtered my parents. The cold stare that pained me so, mockingly eased the pain of the burning. His picture was the one thing I could concentrate on when the burning was at full force.

_CREAK_

My eyes flew opened, immediately targeting the location of the intruding noise. A sandy brown tabby cat sat outside my window, watching me with a curious expression. Its tail twitched back and forth in an almost hypnotic rhythmic pattern. Slowly the animal stood up, pacing on the windowsill impatiently. The hair on its back started to stand on edge as I watched it move. Gradually the cats pacing became more frantic. Its behavior reminded me of a civilian who is slowly stumbling upon the realization that they are trapped. Suddenly it stopped its frantic pacing; its eyes met mine again. It sat down exactly where it had been before its strange frenzy.

This cat seemed strangely familiar to me. I think that I'd seen it somewhere in the village. Had it followed me here? Cautiously, I stood up and walked towards the window. I stopped in front of it and just stared down at the cat. It stared back at me, unblinking. Nothing seemed to be moving, except for the constant twitching of the cat's tail.

_Twitch…Twitch…Twitch…_

Slowly, without taking my eyes off of the cat, I unlocked the window and slid it opened. The cat slowly stood up and jumped inside, as though it knew exactly where it wanted to go. It headed to the hall and turned right, towards the bedrooms.

I stared at the doorway, completely confused. What was wrong with this cat? With the way it was acting, it's almost like the cat is… human. Was it a jutsu? If it was that would mean that the 'cat' was going back to its maker. It would explain why it looked trapped, it couldn't get in, couldn't get to the one who controls it or whatever it wanted.

As quietly as I possibly could I began to follow the cat. The bedroom door was opened only enough for a cat to walk through. I stared at it, contemplating what to do next. I closed my eyes, listening carefully to the sounds in the next room. There was the soft sound of someone breathing. I opened the door slowly, prepared to fight.


	11. New Information

There was a darkened silhouette with short slightly spiked hair sitting on the edge of my king sized bed. The strange cat was in the shadows lap, being petted lightly.

"I went to your house," the voice began. The monotone was unmistakable. It had no tone, and yet communicated everything he was feeling. "To thank you for saving me, but you weren't there. I decided to search for your scent, and found it here of all places. I made the cat and had it follow you, so that I would know when you arrived." As he spoke the cat disappeared, looking as though it was disintegrating into millions of pieces.

"You didn't have to thank me," I said, relaxing myself, "You would have lived." I switched on the light illuminating his crimson hair, and deathly pail skin. "You wouldn't come for that reason, did you want something else… Gaara?" He doesn't say thank you, so he wouldn't travel hundreds of miles away from his home to say it.

A small, smile touched his lips. "Yes," he responded in a tranquil manner. His aquamarine eyes seemed to have lost some of their sadness.

I waited patiently for him to continue, and slowly realized that he would say no more on the subject. "While you're here, can I interest you in some tea?" I asked, not wanting to be inhospitable.

"Actually that would be rather nice, thank you," he said gently. I could hear him following me to the kitchen as I walked, but paid little heed to his presence. I could still feel his eyes watching me as I began preparing the tea, but I couldn't force myself to care about such a thing. I'd be wary too if I were in his shoes. Even if I did help him, he tried to bring down Konoha, a village in which I am a protector of.

Once the tea had been started I turned back to him. "How are you doing?" I asked, trying to attend to common courtesy.

"Fine," he said and hesitated before adding, "My village was very impressed with the 'anonymous' healer's abilities. There was little for them to do by the time I got back."

I smiled. "Well, next time I'll be sure to leave them more work," I said jokingly.

He chuckled once, as if trying to see if it were the right emotion to use in this instance. "I appreciated your help, greatly," he said.

"I couldn't just leave you like that," I admitted. "You were too wounded to walk, and had a long journey ahead of you. It didn't seem right."

"You are compassionate," he said it as more of an observation than a compliment.

"No, most would have done it."

"Not if it would cost them as well. Shukaku (_**His demon**_) told me what would happen to you after we left," he said. His piercing sea foam eyes seemed to be looking through me. And now I have yet another reason why I hate all demons, not necessarily their carriers, but the demons themselves.

"Did he?" I asked, with a fake mild interest.

"I was curious about the pain that you would be caused so I researched it," he said.

That caught my attention. I had never found anything on the subject, and if he had, I was more than intrigued.

"And?" I asked, trying to disguise my eagerness.

"They used to refer to it as the 'Poison Chakra'. I say used to, because it is virtually nonexistent, or at least it was until you."

"Why doesn't it exist today?" I asked

"Because all of the users were murdered," he said plainly.

Well, that's _encouraging_. "Why?" I asked.

"Because it's an incredibly powerful ability, Kiyomi. I don't think that you even realize its full potential yet," he said.

"Powerful how?" I asked warily.

"It's a poison, that some peoples bodies seem to be immune to, or at least immune enough to the point where they can control it, people like you. However, it is still a poison and anyone born without the gene is at the poison wielder's mercy. The poison wielder can cause an immense amount of pain anyone who has the poison in their body."

"I really don't think that it's the same thing. I am constantly in pain," I began.

"And that's how you cause pain, by being in pain. Someone who has your poison running through their body is bonded to your pain, by the poison. When the poison causes you more pain, it causes them more pain, and the only way for the poison to cause you more pain is for you to concentrate on forcing the pain on yourself."

"You mean that, if I am linked with someone and cause myself pain they can feel it?" I asked.

"Yes, but it's not linked, it's bound. I don't know why but they stress that in their documents. I brought them with me if you wanted to read it." He reached behind his back and pulled giant scrolls from a small pack beside his gourd. Instead of handing them to me he leaned the documents against the wall closest to himself. "It's mostly legend, fantasy stories, and romance. You will have to deduce what you can from what you read, then test your theories."

I turned back to the tea and took it off a few seconds before it started to whistle. I poured two cups and motioned for him to join me in the living room. We both sat down, him on the couch and me on the chair that I bought more recently.

"I looked into the thing we discussed at our last 'meeting', if it can be called such," I said. He had requested that I find some information for him, regarding the location of both the third Kazekage, and Sasori.

"And?" he asked when I didn't say anymore.

"The two are related," I said, speaking carefully. "When Sasori left he didn't go alone. The third Kazekage went with him, not willingly. Sasori was just a kid back then so I think he had some help. Sasori is now a part of the Akatsuki, although his immediate location is unknown, I can tell you that he was last seen near the black lake, but that was about a year ago."

"Black Lake?" he asked. "I've never heard of that place. Where is it?"

"You've never heard of the Black Lake?" I asked. He shook his head in response. I sighed and went to grab a map. When I came back he was still sitting there, as though he hadn't moved an inch.

I laid the map on the table between where he sat and where I had been, facing him, and pointed to a small island in the Kirigakure area. "Black Lake is there," I said.

"What is Sasori of the Red Sand doing in the land of Water?" he asked, talking more to himself than me. I answered anyway.

"He's looking for the Kuro Doku." I could see the confusion on his face so I decided to elaborate. "It's a poison, the most deadly, and painful poison known to man. Most people consider it a legend because it's just too awful to be true, the things they say about it."

"Why would he look there?"

"I honestly don't know." I responded. We spent the rest of the night trading theories, and discussing the inner workings of or villages. I suppose that Danzo would call what I'm doing treason, but I see no harm in any of it. The sand village couldn't attack us now even if they wanted to.

* * *

"It's pretty late," I noticed, looking out the window. "Would you like to stay here for the night?" I asked, not thinking about where I was until the sentence was out of my mouth.

"That would be nice, thank you," he said.

"Would you like to see the guest bedroom, or are you going to stay down here?" I asked, remembering that he doesn't sleep.

His lips twitched slightly and he let out a small chuckle. "I'm fine down here, thanks."

I nodded to him and stood. "Goodnight, then." I took the long way to the bedroom, going into the kitchen and grabbing the scrolls that Gaara had left there before entering the bedroom.

It was heaver than originally anticipated. And when I opened it I found out why. The scroll was merely a carrying case for a bunch of old parchment, and the scroll was longer than I had expected as well.

I sighed and picked up one of the old, tattered parchment packets and began reading.

The Beginning

Once upon a time, there were two lovers, a rich Kunoichi, and a poor civilian. The civilian boy was so in love with the girl that he went to her father to ask for her hand in marriage. The father agreed, but only if the civilian would go abroad to become a ninja himself, for the father needed to make sure that his daughter was protected. The boy went to see the girl one last time before embarking on his journey. The girl didn't want him to forget her on his journey, so she found an old binding jutsu and bound herself to him, making it impossible to forget her, as long as she didn't forget him.

Even though it caused her great pain, every night she remembered her lover. She would press her hand to her chest and concentrate on the ache in her heart, and every night he felt her pain, and remembered her.

It took him twice as long as any naturally born ninja, but he became stronger than any that ever lived, and when he was sure that he could protect her from any threat he returned to his lover. They married and had children, who inherited their power, and thus it began.

* * *

I stared down at the paper, trying to talk myself out of my decision. I even took time out to change into pajamas, hoping that, in the time that it took for me to change I would convince myself that it was a bad idea. It didn't work. We weren't lovers, but he had made me a promise, and I need him to stick to it. Maybe I can complete my mission as well. Carefully I put the paper down and placed my hand on my chest, over my heart. I concentrated on the pain, and on forcing all of the 'Poison Chakra' into my heart.

The pain was ten times more than breathtaking. I could feel water collecting in my eyes as a reflex to the pain. It felt like someone had reached into my chest hand was crushing my heart. I could feel the quickened pace of its beating in every cell of my body. I shut my eyes to block the liquid spilling from my eyes. The sight of a cozy row of houses near the river assaulted my mind. I could hear Itachi cry out and feel him grip his chest above his heart as he fell to his knees.

The shock broke my concentration. That wasn't something I was expecting. I didn't expect to be intertwined with his mind so completely. I could still feel him in my head, like the blade of my katana; it will always leave a scar.

It only took me a few minutes to let the information from the vision set in, after the initial shock of seeing it in the first place. He was already here. That was my street!

My mind was buzzing with different possibilities. I could run, I could go meet him, I could… I sighed and took a deep breath. One thing at a time, I told myself. Gaara is down the hall. If he should figure out my location, Gaara would alert me to an intruder. I needed to get some sleep so that I could think this out calmly.


	12. Invitation

My first sense to wake up that morning was smell. Someone has made miso soup. I wanted to fall back to sleep, but my stomach had other ideas. Slowly I crawled out of the giant, king sized bed. It took me a few seconds to realize exactly where I was. _That might have been our bed if he hadn't betrayed me_, I thought. I closed my eyes and shook my head violently. Where in the world did that thought come from?

Never before have I spent the night in this house, nor had I bought it with any intention of doing so. It wouldn't feel right to sleep in this house, I had reasoned, because the house that would have been ours. But now, I felt as though I hadn't gotten this good of a rest since before my nightmare began, five and a half years ago.

I sighed as I stood up and tried to figure out what I was going to wear today. I had put clothes in this place, but they were all from about three years ago. It took me forever to find something that would actually work. I decided on a black shirt that cut off about an inch from my mid stomach, it bothered me to have my stomach exposed. To remedy that problem I used medical bandaged to wrap around my revealing skin. I had found some constricting black shorts that used to go down to my knee, now they were just below my mid thigh. Over that I wore what would have been considered a short skirt if it weren't for the fact that the skirt was made with slits up to the top of them. The skirt was outlined in white, and the original fabric was black with the kanji symbol for wolf in white on the front of the skirt. I again used the bandages, this time around my thigh so that my kunai pouch wouldn't damage my skin.

As far as I knew, I was the only ANBU who carried a kunai pouch. It's not like there was much that would really matter in one, but I brought it along purely for the sake of nostalgia.

My stomach growled, reminding me of my wake up call. Slowly I headed down the hallway, letting my nose guide me to the kitchen. I could see Gaara at the table in the next room with a bowl of miso soup in front of him. He had been watching the doorway, already knowing that I was moving down the hallway.

"I hope you don't mind," Gaara said, motioning his head towards the soup. His voice held no sign of really caring because he knew that I wouldn't, and that I couldn't really do anything about it anyway.

"No," I said, my lips curving up into a small smile, "I don't."

Gaara nodded and busied himself with his food again, allowing me to browse my kitchen in peace. He had only made enough for himself, which was fine by me. I walked over to the fridge, which I had filled about a week ago. I surveyed the food trying to decide what I could possibly want. I reached in the fridge and grabbed an apple before shutting the door.

I turned sharply when I heard a light clicking on the wood surface, prepared to see just about anything walk through the door. Gaara stared at me, looking confused as the cat I had seen last night made its way over to him.

"You're anxious," he said. "Does my presence bother you?"

"No," I said while relaxing my muscles, "an old enemy of mine is in town."

"I see," Gaara mused. "Would this have anything to do with the man in your house the other night?"

"You saw him?" I asked.

"No, I just know that he was there, looking for something. I wish I could tell you more," he said, as he turned his attention to his now half eaten soup.

"You know it was a he?" I asked as I walked over to join him at the table.

"Yes," Gaara replied. "The cat saw him. He had a Konoha headband worn around his arm, but he was no one that I knew."

I sighed. At least I knew that it wasn't Itachi. Chills ran down my spine at the thought of him being in my house while I was sleeping. I could almost see those red eyes, glowing bright crimson through the black, watching me with frightening precision as I stared back at him in horror.

…_the red eyes that had promised never to turn against me. _

_He lied_, I thought spitefully.

I shook myself out of the bloody hole that my mind led me to and into the problem at hand, the man in my house. If it was a person from Konoha only a few people would be stupid enough to organize an attack against me. No regular ANBU member would do this without someone calling the shots; none of them have the guts. There's really only one person who comes to mind.

"Danzo," I said with darkness in my voice that I wasn't accustomed to hearing.

"A council member?" Gaara asked. "This man was younger than him."

"No, he's not stupid enough to do it on his own, it's too risky for him; he'd get an ANBU to follow me.

"He didn't appear to be ANBU, his moves were too… street-like. He was good but had a… an alley cat air about him," he said after a pause to find the right word.

"Alley cat?" I asked. That didn't seem like the type of person that Danzo would associate with, although I'd love to incriminate him, he's probably not guilty… this time.

"He walked like he had street smarts. He knew where not to step, and figured out how to roam about your house as if it were his own.

"Brilliant," I muttered. "I might as well go back there. I'll need to check if it's in tact." I probably want to check if Itachi was there, or if he thought that I knew he was coming and fled. "You are more than welcome to stay here, if you wish."

"That won't be necessary, I should be heading back, anyway. There is, however, one more thing that I wanted to talk to you about," Gaara said.

"Yes?" I asked, fully facing him again.

"I can tell that you are unhappy with your village elders, and I wanted to inform you that you are always welcome in Sunagakure. We would allow you to keep your status as an ANBU."

"With the way things are going I might just take you up on that offer," I said. I couldn't stand being under the council much longer anyway. They assign me all of the missions that I get, and they make sure that I don't see too much action in the field. Everyone in the village trusted me, except them. They still think that I am going to betray them and craw back to Itachi, as if.

He nodded to me, signifying a temporary goodbye. I smiled at him, showing that I acknowledged it and walked out the door.

I wish I could say that my walk home was as simple as our goodbye. The streets were crowded with people on the day that I most needed them to be empty. They were everywhere, including the back roads. Even if my senses were at their highest I wouldn't have been able to find someone watching me through all of these crowds. Every time someone touched me I'd tense, or flinch. I watched everyone I could out of the corner of my eye. I knew he was here; I could feel him in the corner of my mind, like a scar.

"Kiyomi?" a voice asked from somewhere in the crowd. I spun around on my heel with grace that could only be surpassed by a professional ballroom dancer. I was proud of my newfound balance that somehow seemed to be connected to the poison chakra inside of me.

Akiyo, an ANBU member who works in the interrogation force stood a few feet from me. He was taller than me, but who isn't now a days. He had bright orange hair, which was probably the reason why he didn't do field work. Every aspect of him stuck out like a sore thumb; not that standing out is a bad thing. On the contrary, it can be quite a good thing from time to time; just not when you job is dependant on how well you can blend in.

"A little jumpy today, aren't you?" he asked. The loudness of his voice seemed to reiterate the fact that he can't be subtle to save his life.

"Maybe," I replied as I made my way over to him. "Did you need to tell me something?"

"That's a different outfit," he commented. "Is it new?"

I rolled my eyes. "Did you have something important to tell me?" I asked.

"Not a bad different either," he continued. I started to walk away from him. "It's much better than the ANBU outfits at any rate. It actually looks kind of good on you," he called as he chased after me.

I turned back to him, not liking the attention he was giving me. "Look, I am actually a little preoccupied right now so, if you have something to say, please, say it now."

"Cranky," he observed.

"I don't like crowds," I replied, my teeth clenched.

"Actually that's what I needed to talk to you about," he began.

"If Danzo thinks that he's going to have me do crowd control I'm going to kill him," I said.

"No, not crowd control. Today we're celebrating the founding of Konohagakure," he began.

"Oh, that's today," I sighed. This thing always comes at the most inconvenient times. Last year I was just coming back to the village after an extensive journey to kill a rogue. I had come back wounded and needed minor surgery to extract the shrapnel from my body. I had to wait two days, one from the celebration, and the other for the doctors to get over a hangover. Now, it's here again, distracting me from the fact that I have to capture one rogue ninja while trying to figure out who is spying on me.

"Yes, that's today, and this year the council is holding a ball for all ANBU members. They said that it is imperative that you attend," he said, emphasizing his point with giant hand gestures.

"Joy," I said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun!" Akiyo protested.

"Yeah, fun," I replied.

"At least you don't have guard duty like Milko," he replied.

"Well, there's that," I muttered.

"Oh, there's one more thing, before I go," he said.

"What?" I asked, slightly more calm now.

"They are going to call you out, so they want you to look your best," he said as he began to walk away.

This is really not what I need to be concerned with right now, I thought spitefully as I turned back to the crowd between me and my home.

Itachi watched the blurry figure of his former love attempt to push her way back through the fuzzy crowds over the top of the newspaper that he could barely read. He had thought for sure that she was going to catch him when she walked past him, but she didn't take a second glance in his direction. Sure, he was using a jutsu to disguise himself, but he would have thought it obvious because of his lack of control over his own chakra. The horrid poison had made him weak, well weaker than he already was.

He sighed, wishing that his vision weren't so faulty. He had to find something to do about that if he wanted his plan to work.


	13. Rules

The 'party' didn't start until around seven, so I had time to kill, so to speak. I headed to the one place that I knew would never be crowded, my lake. Technically it wasn't _my_ lake, but no one else knew of its existence. That was a lie, I realized quickly.

Of course _he _knew. I couldn't think of a secret place that he didn't know about. I had discovered them all with him. We would both go exploring together. After he left I had no real motivation to find somewhere secret, to escape from the world. My adventurist attitude died when he tried to kill me. Was he really trying to kill me, I asked myself again.

The trees suddenly broke into an opened field looking over a blue, crystal lake.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Look at this," I said. The moonlight reflected off of the water as though it were a mirror. Everything was copied perfectly in the mirror water, the giant, elegant trees, the hills of grass in the distance, the flowers near the bank, and Itachi and I standing side by side, seemingly a few inches below the reflected moon. _

"_Breathtaking," Itachi whispered, as though anything louder would disturb the scene. _

_I tore my eyes away from the crystal lake to face him. "How did you find this place, Itachi?"I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. _

_He smiled slightly and turned to look down at me. "Actually, I was looking for you when I found it," he said with the hint of an amused smile on his face. I loved it when he smiled like that. His stress lines seemed to disappear when he did, and his eyes lit up. "Ironic isn't it?" _

"_What's ironic?" I asked. _

"_That whenever I find something beautiful, I'm looking for you, but it never holds a candle against the beauty of what I am really looking for," he said. _

_I could feel blood rushing to my cheeks, and I let my eyes drop from his face. They lingered on the necklace that he always wore. I reached for it, just as I always did when I saw it. I touched each ring going from the right, to the left, then finally to the center one while whispering, "Never… Forget… Us." Slowly I let my hand drop back to my side. _

_He smiled and leaned towards me. "I could never forget," he whispered in my ear. Gently, he moved to kiss my forehead, while pulling me closer to him. _

_END FLASHBACK_

I stood in the exact same spot that I had been in the night we found this place. I looked down sullenly at the crystal clear water. My own reflection glittered back at me from the surface. I let my eyes wander down the familiar reflection of the surroundings. The trees had grown some, but not much. Unlike most spots, I hadn't been here since the last time I was here with Itachi. I felt awkward here, unlike every other place. I didn't know what that signified, nor did I really care.

On the other side of the lake stood a weasel. It just stared at me, as though it wanted something from me. Were all animals going crazy, or was it just the animals around me? I sighed. The weasel made a strange quick motion before scampering off to the left.

I stared down at the water again, reflecting on the past. I saw something moving in the forests reflection. My eyes immediately flittered up to the disturbance. A tall shadow stood at the edge of the woods, a man hiding like a coward. I knew it saw me looking at it, for it flinched back, looking as though it wanted to run back into the darkness.

"Hn," I sneered upon seeing it. It probably wouldn't be worth my time to go looking for the person.

The figure turned back to me when it heard my voice. Slowly it stepped out of the shadows.

_Itachi_.

I took a fighting stance so quickly it was almost like a twitch. He stood in an arrogant pose, a smirk plastered on his overconfident face. The first thing I noticed about him was that he was shirtless. I could see every inch of muscle across his beautifully toned chest. He had definitely gained a lot of that muscle when he was away. No matter how much I hated him, I would be stupid if I didn't admit that he was attractive. Muscles rippled down his chest, looking like they were chiseled from stone. The eight-pack was definitely new. When he was fully clothed he didn't look all that muscular; actually he looked kind of weak in the muscle tone area, but he clearly wasn't that weak underneath. He had on slightly baggy black, knee length shorts, but that was his only visible item of clothing.

It took me a few seconds to tear my eyes away from his chest to meet his eyes, which were, of course, in Sharingan form. He was watching me carefully, and no matter how much he wanted his smirk to give an air of arrogance, his eyes would always show what he was truly feeling. Right now he was cautious, calculating; he was trying to figure out what I was thinking with those big red eyes of his, and from the looks of his growing frustration, it wasn't working.

We both stood there, looking at each other, trying to decide what would come next. My eyes caught sight of something glistening in the light, a chain around his neck. I recognized it immediately as the necklace that I had given him years ago. I relaxed my position slightly, wondering why he even had it on. Slowly his hand moved from his side. My body took a more ridged pose as I waited for it to begin. His lips twitched when he saw me tense; breaking his cruel sneer for a second, and reminding me slightly of the boy I use to know, before it slid back into place.

He placed his hand gently against a ring on the necklace; right, left, center. Never, forget, us. His facial expression altered as well when he did this. He looked like the boy I once knew, only much lonelier. Despite myself I could feel my heart almost breaking for the boy that I once knew.

Astonishment shook me out of concentration, violently. It felt like I'd been electrocuted. I was nearly standing straight again. My legs were the only thing still in their fighting position. Slowly he let his Sharingan fade into the dark eyes that I remembered with painful clarity from my past.

He took a step forward. Immediately I snapped back into fighting position. I could not forget who he was just because he was playing the nice guy! It was all just an act. He's here to hunt me just as I am. His hands flew in the air, as a symbol of surrender as he took another step forward. His smirk was back in place, making it easier for me to hate him. Slowly his eyes faded back to the bloody red.

He kept moving forward, even placing himself on top of the water. I didn't say anything until he had crossed half the distance of the lake. It bothered me that the water, which used to be smooth and glassy, was now being disturbed by his steady tread. "One more step and you will regret coming here!" I called to him.

He stopped. "I just wish to speak with you," he said, in the gentlest voice he could manage while yelling.

"Then talk! I can hear you fine from right here!" I yelled in response. It was a perfect contrast to his gentleness.

He sighed and mumbled something that I couldn't quite hear before speaking to me again. "You know that my mission is to capture you, and I am aware of the fact that your mission is to capture me. I would just like to set up some rules, for old time's sake." He still held his hands up in surrender. His voice had taken on a slightly more dangerous edge.

"What rules?" I spat, not moving an inch from my own stance.

"Lets sit, be civil. We owe that to each other," he said. His voice had definitely changed. It had an unmistakable cruel edge to it that made chills run down my skin. He motioned with one opened hand at the grass.

"I owe you nothing," I hissed. I thought for a second on exactly what he was saying. I tried to come up with a way that this would benefit me. With rules I know beyond a shadow of a doubt what to expect from him. He doesn't know what I can do anymore, so he doesn't know what to tell me not to use. I knew exactly what I didn't want him using on me. It was the… civil way to do things.

"If I were anyone else," he said, almost in an unnaturally wicked coo, "You wouldn't have even blinked at this option. You would have said yes in a heart beat. Does this mean that I still mean something to you? I'm touched."

I glared at him, unwilling to stroke his ego with a response. "_Why_ are you shirtless?" I asked, aggravated as I stood straight and walked to the part of the grass that he had motioned to, refusing to sit down until he did so.

He chuckled as he put his hands down and walked to a spot ten feet away from me before sitting down himself. "I could ask you the motivation for your costume change as well, but I figured that you would want to keep you personal wardrobe reasoning to yourself." He took a relaxed, cross-legged pose, leaning back on his arms. He unintentionally stretched out his chest, moving his muscles and distracting my eye for a mere second.

He didn't answer my question. That fact didn't go unnoticed. I sighed and sat down as well, folding my legs underneath me. It'd be easier for me to get up, should Itachi attack. "Name your terms," I said, wanting to get this over with quickly.

He made the annoying tsk sound that I couldn't stand. "So eager to get down to business," he said in an unnaturally apathetic voice. "How about exchanging some, simple pleasantries first? Shall I start?" I didn't say anything so he took that as his cue to continue. "How have you been? I haven't really spoken to you since–"

"Since you tried to kill me, imagine that!" I said, cutting him off. His expression seemed to freeze in place. It wasn't a major change in his expression, just a slight display of some kind of suppressed emotion. "I've been training, finding ways to deal with my pain, not that it's any of your business."

"Ah, I see," he said, slightly amused. "I myself have been perfectly fine, quite bored, regrettably. Although I don't think anything could match up to the excitement of my last adventure." His eyes seemed to sparkle with an unsettling excitement. His eyes sparkled, but there was something different expressed by his mouth. It was strange, and small, just a slight disagreement in emotions.

I said nothing. What was there that I could say, 'I'm sorry that nothing can exceed the adrenaline rush of killing your entire clan and my parents, while nearly killing your now ex-girlfriend and mentally destroying your brother'? Somehow it didn't sound right to me.

"You know, out of everyone I killed, they all did exactly what I expected, except for you. There's only one question that bothers me about that night. Why did you do it?" he asked. "And don't give me the bull of 'they're your family and you loved them', because we both know that's not true."

"I'll answer that question when you answer mine," I stated, trying to keep a level tone, but strangely it reached a coldness that could have been equal to his voice when he questioned my own motives.

His facial features suddenly changed. He looked upset by my words. "And what is your question?" he asked, hesitantly. He didn't want to know because he didn't want to be forced to answer questions at all. He hadn't planned on coming back to face the partner that he almost killed.

"Why did you do it? And don't give me any of that crap like 'it was to test your capability', because we both know that's a lie as well."

He took a ridged, deep breath and his once relaxed pose grew tense. "I suppose I don't need an answer," he said in a dismissive manner. "Besides, it's much more fun to wonder."

"Are you done with your 'pleasantries' now?" I asked impatiently. It was becoming more unsettling by the minute to be sitting near him. My skin was crawling, and not with excitement. Evil rolled off of him like waves on the beach.

"Very well," he said. "You are not to obtain outside help."

"If I can't, then neither can you, and that includes your blue buddy or any one of your 'coworkers'," I said, half mocking the fish-boy. I had nothing against him on the contrary, his constantly flowing mouth had seemed to work to my advantage.

His lips turned up slightly out of place from the smirk he tried so hard to keep. "I'm sure Kisame feels the same way about you. Next, don't tell my brother I'm here."

"That I can not agree to. If he asks, I'm not going to lie for you. I'm much more loyal to him than I will ever be to you."

The corners of his mouth turned down. "Well, that's unfortunate. Then I suppose that I will not hesitate to bring up our past as I see fit."

"What makes you think that has any effect on me?" I asked. Slowly he reached for the necklace again, but this time there was something different on his face, not the same look that had made me freeze before. This was cruel, and easily resistible. "No Mangekyō Sharingan techniques," I said, moving on effortlessly.

He nodded in agreement. "I do not wish to use such a hostile form of torture on you," he said, and seemed to freeze for a second before adding, "It's not worth the end result on myself."

"What end result?" I asked, unable to resist.

His frown deepened and a small crease appeared on his forehead. "Do not tell the Council that I am here," he said, offering no more on the subject.

I nodded. I'd find out on my own later. The muscles in his arm twitched, attracting my attention. His strong arms were completely tense. Slowly I noticed that it wasn't only his arms. His entire upper half was tensed up so much that it looked like he was about to go into rigor mortis. His face was the only thing that appeared relaxed.

He seemed to realize that I was no longer looking at his face. The smirk that had been set in stone on his face seemed to become wicked as it grew larger. "Like what you see?" he asked in almost a taunting voice.

I thought about that for a second and I could feel my lips shift upward. "Yes," I said. "I like the fact that you're tense around me, _nervous_." The last word was nearly whispered, but I knew that he heard it.

His eyes widened slightly. He made a conscious effort to relax his posture, breathing deeply. "Don't flatter yourself," he hissed. His eyes had closed and he looked troubled. "My nerves have nothing to do with whatever physical superiority that you _feel_ you have over me. You have nothing on me."

I saw a challenge in his words that I simply couldn't ignore. Carefully I brought my hand to my chest. His eyes were still closed, he didn't notice anything. I placed my hand against my chest and concentrated on the poison in my heart.

Immediately his eyes snapped opened, the Sharingan clearly absent. Both of his hands rushed to his heart. He looked frantically over at me as he tried to strangle the scream that so desperately wanted to escape his throat. His eyes were wild and looked almost helpless. A small whimper escaped from his lips.

I could feel the 'scar' of his mind in mine opening slightly, and I knew that if I wanted to I could have followed it into his mind, but I didn't. I wasn't moving at all. I just stared at him. The pain was bothersome, but I could handle it this time. This is what happens when I encounter a new pain. It's not nearly as painful the second time. My heart was hammering fast, but not as fast as it had been last night.

"I have nothing on you?" I asked with a calm voice. I quickly broke my concentration. The second I did Itachi took a deep breath as though he hadn't had one in minutes. "On the contrary, I think I have the upper hand in our fight."

He looked up at me, panting. His eyes were wild, and glazed over with liquid, though none of it spilled from his eyes. He was shaking. I knew he hadn't healed as fast as he made it seem. He was still desperately weak. He probably couldn't even control his chakra properly. This was going to be far too easy. It was almost a depressing thought… almost.

"How… do you… do that?" he asked between pants. He was slowly regaining control of himself. I was sure that his heart was racing just like mine.

"Oh, don't you know? You should, because you're the one who caused it. Don't you remember me screaming? Don't you remember the burning? You weren't curious about it when you forced the pain on me, not at all. Your only curious now because it is causing you pain, how selfish."

His eyes widened in shock as he stared down at his own hands. They clenched into fists while he was staring at them and his face was set in a show of complete anger. The smile that spread on his face now was completely different than any one before it. I could feel chills moving down my spine. "That's what you get for trusting me," Itachi said. "You actually thought that you meant something to me?" His laughter was cruel, and there was something completely wrong about the way he was acting. "I could have cared less about you."

_He's lying_, I realized. I wasn't telling myself this for comfort, because I wanted it to be true. I desperately wanted him to have hated me from the beginning, so that I could completely justify my hatred for him. 'He never really loved me' slowly turned in to 'I bet he hated me from the beginning' and 'I never meant anything to him'. But now that I hear it from someone else, from his own lips, I can see how stupid it really sounds. Why would he have risked his live to save me on missions? I wouldn't have risked mine to save him if I hadn't cared for him in some way.

But if he had cared for me then why did he do it?

"Well, this," I said as I placed my hand gently to my chest again, playing along with his little charade. I didn't concentrate nearly as hard on it this time; it was more of a reminder than meant to cause pain. "Is what you get for underestimating me on the battlefield. Whatever feelings I thought that I had for you are gone, and I will not hesitate to do anything in my power to stop you."

A small smile played across his face. "Good, I'm glad you understand. I'll need you playing along at the top of your game." Something about his wording was off. It seemed clumsy and awkward, completely unlike him.

"What if I give up my mission?" I asked.

"In that case, it would only be me who has to uphold our 'rules'," he replied with a slight smirk on his face. "But why would you give up?"

"Why should I cut opened an old scar?" I asked.

"For the sake of the village's safety," he said. He always did care about the safety of the village; I suppose he thought that I did too.

"That was always your job. If they push me too far I'm gone, and I think that the council knows that. Do you know that they have never trusted me, not since that day? They never give me missions that are equal to my abilities, because they're afraid that I'm going to betray them with any type of secretive information that comes with the territory, all because I was your partner. The fact that you tried to kill me always escaped their minds."

The smile seemed to completely disappear from his face. "Hmm… the consequences of trusting me," he mused.

There was a long silence between us that almost seemed… normal, not that I'd ever consider spending time with someone who tried to kill me normal, but this felt… peaceful, in a way. Slowly I realized that the sun was getting closer to the horizon. I stood knowing that I had to get ready to leave. "If that's all, I must go," I said.

"Yes, I have other matters to attend to as well," he replied. I turned away from him as he stood. "You're forgetting something."

I wheeled around to face him. "What?" He was standing closer now with his hand extended. "Oh, you can't be serious!"

"Did you not intend on keeping our deal?" he asked, not moving an inch. His voice was calm.

I glared at him, angrily wishing that I was someone else, _**somewhere**_ else. Slowly I forced myself forward, one step after another. The closer I got the harder it was, to force myself to move nearer to him.

I stopped a few feet away from him. I felt like we were both a magnet that completely repels each other. I could feel the force between us almost as if it was visible. Chills ran down my spine, at the mere strength of it. I could see that he felt it too. I forced my hand into his, feeling his warmth in complete contrast to my cold skin. I was hyperaware of his every movement, watching every slight twitch. I remember all to well what happened the last time I put my hand in his. It sent a different type of chills down my spine than before, these seemed to be permanently imbedded into my skin. I could feel it from my head to my toes, all the way through to my core.

We shook hands and let go. It seemed like each movement was forced, and it got harder the closer I was.

"Someone's coming," Itachi whispered. He allowed his form to change, growing shorter, his hair changing to a light brown and cutting down to an inch from his skin. His eyes transformed to a lighter gray. The light heightened in his eyes seemed to make it look like he was losing his sight… curious. It was still easily recognizable as him to me. The lines on his face hadn't dissipated enough. His nose and lip shape hadn't changed, nor his jaw line. "Play along," he whispered in the same voice.

Without warning he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me towards him, forcing me to lean chest on his. "What are you-" I hissed in a frustrated voice.

He cut me off with his lips crashing into mine. I froze. The rage that had been threatening to overcome me since forever suddenly bubbled over. It consumed every inch of my body, all I could do to keep myself from killing him was lock down.

I could hear a laughing couple enter the clearing. Itachi moved his lips from mine and turned to glare at them, still not letting go of me. He didn't let me turn to face them, but held me firmly against his chest, turned completely away from them. "Excuse you," he barked in a fake aggravated voice that sounded nothing like his own.

The laughing stopped. "Oh, sorry," a man's voice said, he sounded full of teenage emotion that I somehow avoided.

"We didn't realize anyone was here," a girl's voice said. She had a sickeningly flirty voice that seemed completely unnecessary.

"Well, we are," Itachi said, in the same overly agitated voice that I didn't recognize. I could hear them turn around to leave.

The second they were gone I separated myself from him. Even I could feel the heat of my glare as I saw it in the reflection in his eyes. I reached up and backhanded him so hard that my hand stung from impact. His head whipped to the side recoiling from the force of it. His cheek was stained bright red.

"Leave now before I end up killing you," I said. My voice was shaking with anger. He nodded and ran. There are times where you just don't want to mess with me, and he knew that.


	14. Preparations

When he was finally out of my site I turned and spat on the ground, trying to get the taste of him out of my mouth. I rubbed my hand over my lips until I thought that they might fall off from the force of my scrubbing. Once my fury finally died down enough for me to think, I ran. I have no idea why I ran, I just had to. I couldn't control the urge, I just obeyed it. Who knows how long I had been running, but the sun was lower in the sky than it should have been. I knew that I had to get home if I was supposed to get ready for the dance.

I changed course and slowed my pace, hoping that if I was late they wouldn't let me in. Fat chance. Thirty minutes tops to my house, twenty for preparations, then twenty more to get to the place, it started in an hour and a half.

I could still feel the chills in my skin, as though they would never go away. I stared down at my hand, still feeling the warmth of his skin on mine, and it was killing me. It seemed to stroke the scar in my mind. The scar was growing. I could feel it even now. I could follow it if I really wanted to. I had no idea where it would lead me, and it sounded like a very bad idea to go somewhere that I didn't know how to get out of. I seemed to be hyperaware of it now more than ever. I really wanted to kill that man sometimes.

I was surprised to see a shadow on my porch when I arrived home. As I approached it I could see its features better. The first thing I saw was its spiky hair, then the bangs, and finally the face of the boy.

"Sasuke," I said, speaking carefully. "I didn't expect to see you on my doorstep again."

Sasuke, who's eyes had been closed while he leaned against my house with his arms crossed over his chest, snapped his eyes opened as though he were surprised to see me here… at _my_ house. "Kiyomi," he said. "That's a um… an interesting outfit."

I looked down at myself. I had completely forgotten what I was wearing. I could feel a slight blush come across my face when I thought of the fact that I had been talking to Itachi in _this_, and that he had _kissed_ me in this while he was shirtless. "I had nothing else to wear," I said nonchalantly. "Did you come here to question my wardrobe or did you have another reason." I walked forward and I unlocked the front door to my house.

"I have a reason," he said. "I have only two options here. You are the only one in the village who might be able to give me more power than Orochimaru. You are the only one with the ability to train me with exactly what I need to kill Itachi. It's either you or him."

"Are you saying you want to come back to me?" I asked him. I knew he'd never make it sound like that, but it was what he wanted. He figured that threats were the best way to do it.

He looked at me for a minute–no glared is more of the right word. "Possibly," he said grudgingly.

"Very well, but it won't just be training of your body. You are going to need a complete mental reform as well. Are you okay with this?" I asked. "Because that's what it's going to take for me to train you." I sat down on my couch completely stressed out. How much can one dying clan bother me in a day?

"Yes," he said. He didn't look particularly happy about it, but he agreed none the less. That's all I needed.

"Okay, tomorrow at three. Meet me here," I said.

"Alright," he said, and turned to leave. He paused at the door, one hand resting on the handle. "It is nice to see you again." Just like that, he was gone. I couldn't help but smile at his words. Sasuke's never been emotional, so that was as close as he would ever get, but I was more than okay with that.

There was one thing that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt. I wasn't going to tell him about Itachi until I knew that he was ready.

I sighed as I put the final pin into my overly intricate hairdo. To any normal person it looked like a simple hybrid of the normal bun, twisted to my head. The kanzashi that I had placed in my hair was a piece of jewelry that I inherited from my biological parents. Only I would know the amount of effort that it too to actually keep my hair in this position. And while I was getting ready I was cursing the council for even breathing. Why did they have to call me out anyway!

I made my way towards the full body mirror and looked at my full form. The kimono's pattern is a royal blue with intricate silver designs that seem to swirl in a constant, yet meaningless pattern gently through the furisode, all in moderation. The obi was a deep crimson red and tied in the traditional bow fashion behind my back.

I was wearing more jewelry today than I ever have before. I had forgotten about the necklace that I wore. It has been on me for so long that I had gotten use to it being there. It was a black stoned heart necklace with diamonds surrounding it, and a diamond pattern that seemed to be imbedded into the black stone. I had put on my real mothers ring which also had a black stone inside of it, but this one was a much more elegant fashion. The band was silver and near the black gem it was adorned with small glittering stones in an interesting pattern.

I sighed, remembering the last time I dressed up like this when I wasn't on a mission.

FLASHBACK

_The creature staring back at me I barely recognized as my own form as I stared in the mirror. I was wearing a red furisode with white flowers on the sleeves. The obi was a crème white and tied behind the back. The furisode was outlined with white and gave it a bright elegant look despite the crimson coloring._

_Itachi had requested that I dress up, he said it was supposed to be special. He had refused to tell me why. I sighed, and the creature in the mirror with my green eyes opened her mouth and gave an expression of annoyance. This creature seemed to be far too beautiful to be me. It was an exotic beauty that only seemed available to princesses. _

_I left the bathroom to pace around my room once more. It didn't seem to be helping my nerves in the least. _

"_You know if you keep pacing like that you're bound to leave grooves in the floor," a recognizable voice said behind me. _

"_Itachi," I exclaimed, turning towards him. I paused to take in his appearance. He was wearing a black kimono with a red long jacket over it that gave him a simple, royal look. His pony-tail seemed to be placed lower on his head than before, giving him a more relaxed air. _

_He pushed himself off of the wall and in two strides stepped forward putting himself no more than a foot in front of me. He put his arm out for me to take, and I did so without hesitation. He stepped back and twirled me into him, wrapping his arm around my waist. "You look lovely," he whispered into my ear. I could feel the scarlet stains on my cheeks when he spoke, his breath gently caressing the base of my neck. _

"_You don't look too bad yourself, Itachi," I whispered in a tone not unlike that of his own. _

_He chuckled lightly and released me, stepping back as he did so. "I can't possibly imagine what the council would do if they knew exactly how much emotion I show to you," he mused lightly. _

_I turned to face him, smiling. "Itachi, that emotion is you. You're a kind, loving, and peaceful person who just so happens to hold a job that requires you not to feel. I've watched you act for the clients, for the council, for everyone." _

"_Not for everyone," he said, placing a hand gently against my face. The intensely emotional look that he gave me sent chills down my spine. He cleared his throat and looked away from me, pulling his hand to his side. "It's not like I could act around you. You'd see right through it if I tried." _

"_Yeah," I said still slightly shaken from his gaze. "I'm your weakness." _

"_And I'm glad for that," he said as he looked back to me again. "Well, we best get going. Why keep our 'fans' waiting." He always mocked the kids who followed us, calling them fans. The only thing I liked to call them was annoying. _

_The dance room was recently decorated to look new, but in reality it was as old as the village itself. The floors had been mopped to shine like new marble, and the decrepit walls had obviously been redone to match the floors. Every inch of the room seemed to shimmer with elegance. There were tables set up on the sides of each room, and a bar to the right currently occupied with about ten guys looking for some liquid courage. _

_Out on the dance floor there were a few couples attempting to do something that looked like a waltz and others who admitted their lack of knowledge of dance and just swayed back and forth. _

"_Nice party," I commented quietly. _

_Itachi rolled his eyes and looked down at me. I smiled, closing my eyes to exaggerate the smile. "I guess we'll have to liven it up a little bit, won't we?" he asked in his dangerous voice that told me I'd be sorry for coming out. _

"_Uh oh," I said in a quiet voice, my expression quickly changing to that of horror as he spun me onto the dance floor. _

_Dancing with Itachi was indescribable. Everyone was staring at us, wanting to dance like us, some of them trying, none of them succeeding. On slower songs he would pull my body closer to his and we would whisper to each other jokes about what we see others doing, and on faster songs we would dance elaborate and complex dances that have been long since forgotten in most societies because they appeared too difficult. For everyone else we quickly became part of the entertainment. _

_For me it was exhilarating the way his skin would brush my own causing chills on my skin and a blush on my cheeks. The fast dances left us both breathless and tired, but kept adrenaline coursing through our veins as if it were blood itself. There was nothing in the world that could compare to the exhilaration of the dances, except maybe the way he looked at me. His eyes seemed to stare straight through me, as though he understood everything about who I was. It was as if he were trying to tell me that I was the most important thing in the world to him, and that he couldn't see anyone, or anything else, and I felt the same thing for him. Nothing could ruin this moment._

END FLASHBACK

I smiled, remembering the only good dance that I have ever been to. This one was probably going to be just as boring as all the others, a lack of people to talk to, being forced to dress up in uncomfortable and tight clothing while being bored out of my mind. Things like this just didn't peak my interest anymore.


	15. Ceiro

I want to thank you all for the kind reviews! you have no idea how awesome thoes make me feel! I'm trying to write as much as I can, but I'm also trying to work on my own personal story that is not a fan fiction, so I'm not sure when I'll do what right now. I'll try to update soon though. I love you all!

* * *

A knock on the door shook me out of dream land and back to my dismal reality. I sighed as I walked over to the door, really not looking forward to seeing anyone.

As the door swung opened I recognized the spiked silver hair before anything else, soon followed by the cover over one of his eyes. He was dressed in his normal jonin outfit. "Hi Kiyomi," Kakashi greeted in a very peppy manner that reminded me somewhat of a dog.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. I didn't mean it to sound rude, but it probably did.

"I am here to escort you to the dance," he said with fake enthusiasm.

"I need a babysitter?" I asked. The council was really beginning to get on my last nerve.

Kakashi chuckled. "Oh, probably not, but I wouldn't risk you not showing up either with what they've got planned."

"Are they forcing you to stay too?" I asked. He didn't look like he was dressed to be at a dance, but who was I to judge.

"Think of me as more of a guard than an attendee. They think you might need protection from who knows what," Kakashi said. He was lying, at least about the last part, but I wasn't about to go fishing for the truth right now. I decided that it wasn't worth the time it would take to try to play mind games with Kakashi.

I sighed again as I grabbed my shoes and headed out the door. "Might as well get going now, this night is going to be horrible no matter how much I stall," I said as I headed down the street with Kakashi at my side.

"You're probably right. It never helps me either, no matter how late I make myself my team is still waiting for me," Kakashi said. I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Hey, just out of curiosity, how much do you hate being the center of attention?"

I blinked and looked at him. "I hate it with a passion that has yet to be described in written language. Why?"

"Oh, just a question," he said, obviously avoiding the real answer, deflecting it with nonchalance. "I heard that Sasuke came back to you."

"Yeah, he did. It was earlier today actually. I laid down a few ground rules, and he accepted them, but I don't think that he'll really understand them until they are put into practice."

"Ah," he said. "I think he prefers you over me. He has just recently denied my offer for personal training. He said that it wouldn't be beneficial to his overall goal."

"Yeah that sound like him," I replied, reflecting on his personality.

"I'm trying to get him to stop using the curse mark. I can't get rid of it, but I have sealed it. I'm actually slightly afraid for him. He's not in the best state right now. I think he's got target fixation."

"I know," I replied. We had reached a more regularly used road now and the people on it were all staring at me. It was slightly uncomfortable, but they all moved out of my way so I wasn't complaining. "I'm going to work on that too."

"Itachi really messed him up, didn't he?" Kakashi asked. "What kind of man could do that to their little brother?"

"I have asked that question hundreds of times and I get the same answer each time." I said.

"What answer is that?" He could see that we were being watched as well. I could tell that it pleased him about as much as it pleased me.

"No one. No one person could be that evil," I replied.

"But someone is," Kakashi reminded me.

"I know," I replied, but something felt off. "I don't want to believe it, but I know that I have to."

"You've been tasked with hunting him down. Can you handle that, Kiyomi?" he asked.

I turned to him and glared. "Who are you to question what I can and can't handle?" I asked. I was really tired of that question. "I don't have a problem taking him down."

"Okay, it's my job to question, calm down. I'm not saying you're not physically strong enough, but he was your partner Kiyomi."

"And he tried to kill me," I fired back. I was so tired of this conversation. The one thing I liked about the council, they never questioned if I was 'ready' for an assignment.

"Point taken," Kakashi said.

"My only problem with the entire situation is Sasuke," I said, reflecting on my options again. There's always Suna.

"He is very fond of you, you know. He would never say it, but I can see it. Whenever someone mentions your name in a crowd his head turns. When they speak badly about you his hands curl into fists, sometimes he even opposes them."

I smiled sadly. "Sometimes I wish he wouldn't do things like that."

"It was you who saved him, was it not?" he asked.

"Anyone could have found him and saved him. I just happened to get there first."

"And you also nearly caused your death by doing so. He might believe that he owes you." I opened my mouth to protest him, but he continued before I could speak. "Maybe not. Maybe he thinks that you're the only type of family he's got now. He has you and Naruto."

"And you," I replied.

"He's shutting me out," Kakashi said. "I don't know why, but he's slowly loosing his confidence in me. Just don't let him lose confidence in you, because you are the only thing holding him to this village now." We had reached the location for the party. It was a two story building that I knew well. It was the same place that Itachi had taken me before, the place where we danced.

I knew that was true. I was the only thing keeping him here. I sighed. "I won't."

"No, thank you. I really don't want to dance," I said for about the 17th time in the past hour. I tried to keep the smile on my face, but it was so hard when people asked the same question over and over again while I stood here with absolutely nothing to do.

I could hear Kakashi laughing behind me. I turned to glare at him. "Sorry," he mumbled, not meaning it.

I sighed. This couldn't possibly get any worse.

Across the dance floor I caught sight of a beautiful pair of glowing blue eyes watching me through dark purple bangs. The man was leaning against the wall with his arms folded loosely against his chest. He was wearing a kimono that wouldn't have stood out in a crowd. His purpose was to blend in. He was very handsome, with a bad boy face and an air of defiance. His lips twitched up into a daredevil smile when my emerald eyes touched the gaze of his liquid blue ones. He winked an outrageously cute gesture that melted an inch of the ice around my heart.

Someone momentarily passed in front of the beautiful boy, and in an instant, he was gone. I blinked and began to look around. Surely he couldn't have just gone.

"Hello ma'am," an unfamiliar male voice said from behind me.

"No," I said without turning to him. I didn't want to waste my time with niceness; I wanted to find this boy.

"Sir?" the voice asked sounding confused. I turned to face him then. He had dark red slightly disheveled hair, a few shades away from blood red. It was cut to allow his bangs to fall into his face. His silver eyes seemed to sparkle with amusement behind the metal frames of his glasses. The silver of his eyes had a ring of black outlining it like a golden glow around an angel. His eyes were strangely enchanting. The sideways smile on his face gave him a sense of flirty charm that seemed to add to his alluring beauty.

I sighed. "I said no because I know what you are going to ask me. I do not want to dance," I replied.

"Neither do I," he said. "I really don't like dancing all that much. It's just a bunch of people spinning around in mindless circles. Somehow they find this attractive."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Now this was something I hadn't expected, someone as cynical as me about the dance actually showed up here. "What is your name?" I asked, curious.

"Ceiro," he replied, the grin on his face grew wider. He seemed to be a generally happy person, or at least that's what his smile led me to believe. "You are ANBU, of course. I can see that from your up tight pose and the fact that you obviously don't want to be here. I can guess that about you, but I can not guess your name."

"It's Kiyomi," I replied. He was smart, and sly. He, obviously, wanted to prove himself to me in some way. I hated to admit it, but he had proved a lot to me already. He was attractive, sarcastic, and smart with a strange sense of humor. "So, you know what I'm doing here, but I have no idea why you are. You are not ANBU, I'd remember if you were, so it isn't necessary for you to be here."

His smile faltered slightly. "I have certain matters to attend to with Danzo," he replied.

I frowned. "Danzo," I muttered choosing a nice spot on the floor holding the old mans reflection to glare at. "Why not wait until tomorrow?"

"He said that he would only speak to me on this matter if I attended this," he said holding his hands up to signify that 'this' was the dance. "So, lucky me, I'm stuck here, all night."

I chuckled. "At least you don't have to make some grand appearance as the 'guest of honor'."

He was laughing at me. "Yeah, at least I have that going for me," he said in between his fits of laughter. "I guess we both have reason to hate Danzo, then don't we?"

"I suppose we do," I replied. "At least for tonight." His hatred would end by the morning light, but mine would continue on into eternity.

"At least the food looks good," he mused. "Better than I'd get at my house anyway."

I laughed. "Not the cooking type?" I asked.

"I have many talents, but the only one that remotely comes close to anything in the kitchen is my vast knowledge of knives," he confessed. He didn't seem to be conceded, just professing the truth.

"Knives?" I asked.

"Yes, I know my way around a blade or two," he confessed.

"Hmm… How's your knowledge in combat on the field?" I asked.

"That's the talent I want to talk to Danzo about. I would like to serve Konoha as an ANBU. I come from another village, and am looking to move."

How interesting. Slowly a dangerous idea was forming in my head. "Where are you from?" I asked.

"The land of Rivers," he replied. "All of their war isn't exactly something I want to be hanging around."

"You know, I could help you get into that position," I mused. "But first I'd have to see what you're capable of."

A cute lopsided smile grew quickly on his face. His silver eyes sparkled brilliantly behind his glasses. "What is it that you're proposing exactly?" he asked.

I met his gaze, trying to understand if he was a good person for what I had in mind. "For now, all I am proposing is a meeting at a later date… that might turn into a mutually prosperous partnership."

His smile widened as he leaned in closer to me. It was only now that I realized how close we actually were to each other. I had only ever seen lovers this close to each other. "Then I look forward to that later date," he whispered mischievously.

Instead of feeling awkward with the limited amount of space given to me, it made me feel oddly… rebellious. "Tomorrow, five o clock, training fields," I said.

"I'll be there." He leaned back slightly and frowned. "I'm being glared at," he said without looking around. It was true, there were at least five guys around the room glaring at him, very conspicuously.

I chuckled, amazed at the sudden feeling of hatred rolling around the room. "Sorry, that happens when a guy is around me," I replied.

He sighed and shook his head. "I guess I'm going to fit in perfectly here then," he said sarcastically. I smiled apologetically at him. "Since I've done so much damage to myself I might as well seal the deal."

He put his hand out in front of himself for me to take in a dancer fashion. I looked at him before hesitantly taking his hand and letting him lead me onto the dance floor.

He put one hand on my waste, taking my hand in his other. I placed my other hand on his shoulder. We began to move to the music gracefully. It was strange, how normal everything felt. We quickly became the center of attention, but I paid little heed to the hundreds of eyes watching. As the songs grew more intense so did our dancing. The space between our bodies that seemed so evident before seemed to shrink.

The fifth song stopped and I could feel his elevated pulse vibrating through my chest. His heartbeat seemed to match mine completely. I looked up into his shaded eyes as he looked down to mine. His breath gently caressed my face almost like the feeling of a nice breeze on the lake. His warmth seemed to radiate in every pore of my body. We seemed to breathe in and out as one. I could feel a smile growing on my face; fighting him was going to be fun.


	16. New Position

The musicians stopped playing in the middle of one of the traditional songs. Everyone in the room seemed to stop at once. People started talking in whispers, wondering what was going on. It seemed like the entire crowds heads were on a swivel. Both Ceiro and I let go of each other, and stepped back. Neither of us took our eyes off of the other as we waited to find the source of the disturbance. I could feel a strange chill run down my spine that I hadn't felt in a long time. Was I actually going to be able to form a bond with someone new?

"Okay everyone," Tsunade said, talking loudly over the attendees. She stood dressed in the traditional Hokage clothing, nothing different there. The masses of people were suddenly deathly quiet. You could have heard a senbon needle drop on the recently cleaned and retiled floor. "I think it is high time we address the real reason for requesting the presence of all of you. We would like to honor all of are ANBU members for their hard work."

I could see where this was going. I broke eye contact with Ceiro and began to back away. He looked at me confused for a minute. I brought my finger to my lips signaling him to be quiet and continued to back towards the door. He nodded and looked away with a mischievous smirk on his face.

I heard someone clear their throat behind me and stopped dead in my tracks. Slowly I turned back to meet with the wickedly amused face of Kakashi. I glared at him, now seeing his true purpose for accompanying me here. "I hate you," I whispered to him through gritted teeth. He crossed his arms across his chest in what was meant to be a threatening gesture. He looked pointedly at me. I groaned and turned back around to listen to Tsunade talk.

"There are, however a few ANBU members in particular we would like to honor. We would all like to thank, Sareade, Saikneri, and Regan for their uncontested bravery on their last mission, and we are incredibly sorry for the loss of Roaleami a very valuable member of our ANBU, she will be sorely missed," Tsunade said. I was too busy trying to find the path of least resistance to the exit to actually pay attention. If I took down Kakashi I could get to the door behind me, but he'd be much harder to take down in a kimono. There was a moment of silence for the teams fallen comrade.

"But mourning our losses is not the only reason for being here. Today, we are about to make history in Konoha. Today I will revoke my rights to being the head of ANBU, and give them to another upstanding ninja in our community. Because the position given is such an immense power, they will also gain a spot in the Council." Just like that the whispering started up again. Everyone whispering at once wasn't very subtle if you actually thought about it. Creating a new council position had never been done before.

My eyes widened in awe. I could feel my jaw drop slightly. Surely Danzo wouldn't approve of this. Him and his big ego wouldn't have been able to stand the idea of someone taking over the ANBU, and having to share the council's powers and knowledge with an outsider. He must have had the biggest fit when he found out, if he found out. I switched my gaze to him wishing to see his tortured or angry expression. It would make my night. He lived to torture me, and while I don't purposely seek out his, I couldn't say I didn't enjoy seeing him in distress.

Wait, is he… smiling? I could feel a chill run down my spine. I had very seldom seen him smile, but I knew it was never good when he did.

"I would like to give the honor of this position to none other than Maki, Kiyomi," Tsunade said. Complete horror distorted to a look of shock covered my face. From my peripheral vision I could see every head turn towards me. Danzo turned his eyes to meet mine, and his smile grew wider. "Kiyomi," Tsunade called to me. She motioned for me to come and join her. I nodded and walked forward, internally cursing their very existence. I hated being the center of attention like this.

Everyone started clapping and staring at me in admiration. I absolutely abhor being stared at. I suppose that was because my job was to blend in and not bee seen, everyone seeing me seemed awkward and uncomfortable. They trained me to blend in and then they do something like this to me.

"Congratulations," Tsunade whispered to me. We bowed to each other. I forced a smile in response.

"Thank you," I replied softly.

"Everyone please enjoy the celebration," Tsunade said to the crowd. She placed an arm over my shoulder and steered me away from the crowd. "We need to talk to you." Thank Heaven, I didn't have to make a speech.

I barely suppressed a groan when I saw every council member heading in he same direction I was being led. I really did not want to talk to them. I could hear a slight chuckle coming from the person that I just passed. I looked back to see a pair of silver glasses shining brightly in the light under dark red hair and accompanied by a small smile. I sighed. Of course he would laugh at my misfortune, but then, I suppose that's why I got along with him. If it were him in this position I would have done the exact same thing.

I let Tsunade drag me into a separate room. This room was much more dimly lit than the others. The only lighting I could see was a warm, stone fireplace in the wall. The walls were painted a dark blue, not like the color I was wearing, but closer to black than blue. The floor was made of a wood that I didn't quite recognize. A comfortable, blood red sofa sat in front of the fire, close enough to warm yourself. The council all stood around the sofa none of them sitting down. Dark artwork covered the walls, pictures of mourning souls and dismal forests.

"Kiyomi, sit," Danzo said. He sounded like he wanted to command me, but knew that he had to be polite. "Please," he added. We were the same rank now he had to be nice to me.

I nodded and sat down as I tried to keep a smile off of my face.

"We have a lot to discuss," one of the council members that I never learned the name of said. Carefully I took in the looks on everyone's faces. The council members all seemed quite smug, but none more so than Danzo. This made my complete distaste for this man even more overwhelming than I had thought possible.

"I am giving up my rights to the ANBU, and intrusting them to you," Tsunade began. She had already told me this, but it seemed important for her to repeat the information so I kept my mouth shut. "This immediately makes you head of all special ops run. You will be given information that no one your age has ever been privileged to before you, or will ever be after you."

"Will I still be able to go on field missions?" I asked, feeling slightly anxious. Field missions were my life.

The looked between them seemed to suggest that this was a controversial point in their arrangements. "We feel that it is best for you to stay with the village because you are now a very valuable asset, but if you feel that there are high-level missions that none of your agents can handle, you may elect to go alone," the third council who I never paid attention to member said.

"We would at least prefer you to find a partner suitable enough for you to work with if you insist on working in the fields," Danzo said.

"I'm working on it," I replied, meeting Danzo's permanent glare.

"Good," Tsunade replied. "I am happy to hear that. It might show the villagers how well you have moved on if you acquire a new partner."

"You must understand how great of an honor this is for you," said the other councilman. "No other village in our world has ever even considered relinquishing their control over ANBU, especially to a child as young as you."

I guess that would mean that I wouldn't get the same rank in Suna anymore. Is that why they did this, to keep me from leaving for Suna? How had they even found out about the fact that I talked to Gaara? "I understand," I replied, nodding slightly. "This also means that I have access to the Council's secret files, correct?"

All three of the council members looked at each other uncomfortably. They didn't want me to figure that out. I bit my cheek to hide the defiant smirk that was sure to come. "Yes, of course," Tsunade replied when no one else did. "You are a council member therefore you gain all rights to the knowledge of our past. But I never thought that you would be interested in historical documents."

"Not necessarily the history," I replied, turning to face her alone. "It's more of the strategy behind the history that I am interested in."

"I see," she replied. "You always were one for mind games."

"You have no idea," I replied unable to hide my smile now.

"Go back and enjoy the rest of the party now. You deserve it," Danzo replied. The look on his face was something that I assumed to be him trying to smile. He was hiding something.

I nodded and walked out the doors without any further protest. The light from the hallway in contrast to the dark room should have hurt my eyes, it normally did but tonight was different. I could feel my eyebrows pull together in confusion as I contemplated this.

The further I walked through the hallways, the louder the echoing chatter of the people became. They seemed to have multiplied within ten minutes. I really did hate spending time with people. They always try to make small talk about the weather or worse, they ask me about my life. Some of them are frank and just blurt out the question everyone wants an answer to; how did I not see what Itachi became. All of the rest of them just beat around the bush, or don't mention it all because their mind is on much less noble matters. The men think it would be a 'score' to hook up with the ex-girlfriend of a mass murderer, which was annoying. All in all I had every reason to want to avoid people.

By the time I had reached the hall my mind had been made. I walked straight past the Great Hall and headed towards the glass doors that lead to the balcony overlooking the water.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Come with me," Itachi whispered softly in my ear. The sleeves of his red jacket and black kimono gently brushed against the skin of my arms as his hand was inconspicuously placed in mine. _

_I was grateful to be taken off the dance floor so I did not protest when he led me away. We walked in silence down a small hallway. Our shoes echoed in unison against the old marble flooring. He slid opened an old glass door and allowed me to walk through before shutting it. Immediately all of the noise from the party disappeared. It was only him and I out there on the old balcony. I highly doubted anyone at the party was even aware of its existence. _

_I could feel Itachi place his hand against the small of my back as he began to lead me forward. His warmth seemed to radiate through my body, acting as a natural relaxant to the chaos that seemed to permanently flood my mind. I didn't even want to protest to his closeness, for we never normally got a chance to actually be this close to each other. We were both so preoccupied with work and he had his family. This was the first peaceful moment we've had in weeks. _

_We both stopped at the railing. I could feel him moving behind me, wrapping his hand around my waist. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder. The moon was full this night, and it seemed to shine down on us as if we were actors on a stage. _

"_I missed this," I confessed. "Silent moments of peace are hard to come by." _

_His grip on my waist tightened supportively before loosening again. "One day we will live our lives in peace… together. I promise you."_

_END FLASHBACK_

My grip tightened on the restored wooden railing as my eyes hardened to a dark glare. There was no moon to shine tonight. The stars had dimmed, mourning the loss of the moon. "There is no such thing as peace, not anymore," I said to no one.


	17. Sasuke's First Lesson: Strategy

**If you get numerous alerts to a new chapter and see this same chapter here, it is because I am revising my previous chapters; if you go back you will find that they have changed. I've already worked on Chapter 1, so, I promise I'm not just trying to get on your nerves; I'm trying to fix my failures from two years ago. **

**Oh, and I don't own this show, just the plot in the story, and my own characters. **

The hot sun beat down on me mercilessly, drenching my body in sweat. I was wearing a red tank top shirt and short, black shorts. My eyes remained focused on the giant tree in front of me. I could feel the strain of my focus on my body and mind. The poison chakra burned in every inch of my body, but I had no time to focus on it. I had to advance my abilities. The pain was only making me move further. The power coursing through my veins was intoxicating, like a drug.

The tree began to shake with no obvious external force acting on it. It was difficult to do, pull the giant tree up from the ground using my mental abilities. The roots were giving me the most trouble. They went so deep and dug into the ground every time I tried to pull on them. The tree seemed to move up an inch.

I groaned in protest to my struggles. The tree gave further, pulling up half a foot. The dirt was looser now; it would only get easier from here, even saying that, the roots were about 20 feet long.

Thirty minutes later the last of the root left the ground, but that was only half of my job. This was the hardest part now, not dropping it while I also concentrated on walking. I took one mechanical step after another, moving towards the giant hole I had dug earlier. My entire being was completely focused on this tree. It was thirty seven steps from one end of the clearing to the other. I counted each one. The pressure of the tree seemed to be completely on my shoulders as I walked, making my leg muscles tense to the point where I thought they would break.

Carefully I lowered the tree into the hole, not wanting to ruin what I'd started so close to the end. Once it was on the ground I kept part of my focus on holding the tree in place, and put the rest on pushing the dirt into the hole with my mind as well.

As soon as the job was over I allowed myself to collapse on the ground, completely drained. I closed my eyes against the blinding sunlight and a warm breeze swept through the clearing, as if nature itself rewarding me for my hard work. My hair, which I had put up in a high pony-tail, was no longer neat and tidy. I could feel strands blowing in the wind. I sighed and ripped out the band in my hair, not liking the look anyway. Itachi always wore his hair up. Mine was longer than his and much more feminine, but the small similarities were enough

Once I had cooled off enough to the point where my skin was no longer moist I forced myself to stand and began walking home. I had to prepare for Sasuke's training. The first thing I was doing when I got home was take a shower. I grabbed the jacket that I had left on the ground and headed off.

From the darkness a pair of mysterious blue eyes watched her training with enthusiasm. His dark purple hair and dark clothing made him practically invisible in the shadows, not that she would have seen him anyway. He doubted that she would have noticed if he lit a fire and started roasting steak her concentration was so strong.

The stranger remained fixated on the girl. He had never seen such a thing done in his life like what she had done. This girl had to be something special. No wonder his employers were so interested in someone like her. But now she had caught his interest, now he needed to learn more. He was itching for the day when they would actually meet face to face, sword to sword.

**Knock, knock. **

I bolted up from my couch, disturbed from the dreamless nap I had dozed into while waiting. "Come in, Sasuke," I yelled towards the door. Gradually I became more alert. My hair had almost dried from my shower at noon. I was now wearing my normal ANBU attire, minus the heavy cloak, which I had been using for a blanket, and the mask. I guess, since my status has changed, my wardrobe should too. I'd get on that as soon as possible.

The sound of the door sliding opened and small footsteps echoed through the hallway as Sasuke entered. "You're early," I said, not even having to look at a clock to know that it was only 2:30.

"Is that a problem?" Sasuke countered. He was leaning against the wall beside the doorway that led outside.

"No, merely an observation," I said as I forced myself to stand up, allowing my makeshift blanket to fall to the ground. "Why are you so eager to get started with this?"

"Because I need to kill my brother," he replied simply. "I know that you do not wish to, but I do. No matter what you think, he needs to die."

I sighed. "And I train you, not to kill your brother, but to survive in a fight against him."

Sasuke nodded. "I understand," he said. I really didn't think he did, at least not the way I wanted him to.

"Alright then, follow me," I said as I began to walk out of the room. I could hear the wood groan as he bushed himself off from the wall.

"Which training field are we headed to?" he asked once our shoes had touched dirt.

I smiled slightly at his question. "Not one that you've ever heard of," I replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked, sounding very much like a pouting child.

I sighed, not liking his new attitude. "It means exactly what you think it means. You haven't heard of this training field because, according to your clearance level, this program doesn't exist," I explained.

"What program?" Sasuke asked.

I glanced over at him, wishing so badly that I could hit him right now. He deserved it with his attitude. "A program that I am not willing to tell you about," I replied.

Sasuke nodded, not looking like he accepted the information he was given, but he said no more.

The place I was leading him was my personal ANBU field. Ever team was given their own field, and while there was 4 of us at one point in time, I am the only one left, two of them were killed in the first battle we were all in, and one… well you know.

I stopped in the center of the field and turned to face Sasuke completely. His onyx eyes met mine, reflecting sadness and pain that we both shared but neither of us ever spoke of. "We will begin with refining your mind," I said. "That is the area that you will need the most help in."

"No matter what ideas you try to pound in my head I will still want to kill him," Sasuke said determinedly.

"I am not trying to persuade you otherwise, I am merely training you to think like him, to get inside his head, but first I must get inside yours," I explained. "It won't be easy to get through this part."

"I am ready," he said.

"If you're sure," I replied. I began making different hand signs quickly, forming a genjutsu. "I do not want you to fight against this jutsu, merely to see it through." I reached for him and poked his forehead, which was lacking his forehead protector, just as his brother used to do. My eyes closed and it began. In my place he saw Itachi, his fingers placed on his brother's forehead.

"Hello, little brother," He said in an unemotional voice.

Sasuke took out a kunai, immediately and went straight for Itachi's heart, not even attempting strategy. Itachi blocked it with one hand and punched Sasuke hard in the gut with his other. "Pathetic," Itachi said. Sasuke was forced twenty feet back from the blow.

The fist fighting went on for a long time. For an entire hour Sasuke got his butt kicked while not even laying a hand on the genjutsu Itachi himself. Sasuke ended up on the ground, bleeding and bruised near the edge of the forest. The fake Itachi stood in the center of the field, his expression placid. "If only dad could see you now Sasuke, he'd be so proud."

Sasuke growled frustrated, with one hand on his stomach. He was already panting. He began furiously ripping at the buttons of his wrist-guard. "Chidori little brother? Again? One would have thought you came up with something more creative by now. You're in worse shape than I thought."

"SHUT UP!" Sasuke yelled, now completely absorbed by the Genjutsu. He thought he was really fighting his brother. He was in worse condition than I thought. What did that man do to him?

Sasuke began the signs for chidori, his anger was reflected even in the sound of the jutsu. The sound of 1000 birds seemed louder, angrier. He charged Itachi with all his might. Blood spattered across Sasuke's face as the chidori cut through flesh. A bloodcurdling scream could be heard echoing through the forest, but not a man's scream. A perfect copy of his mother stood before Sasuke, with his hand through her stomach.

"Do you see what no strategy gets you brother? Dead loved ones. Everyone around you will die, and it will all be your fault. Think things through or this will be your fate for the rest of your life," Itachi said.

Sasuke pulled his hand away and stared at them in horror. Slowly the face of his mother changed from that of his teammates. "If you fight with no thought the consequences are not only yours. It takes Itachi less than a second to move to your left, grab your companion and get back to his original spot," I said, turning Itachi back to myself. "Or the companion he kidnapped because you were stupid and went alone. You need to think Sasuke! You were blessed with a giant brain meant for this stuff, use it!"

I ended the jutsu, seeing enough of Sasuke's torture to last a lifetime. I was only controlling it at the beginning, from there on his mind controlled it, causing the worst things imaginable to happen in the end. It was unbearable for me to see things like this. He was, in my eyes, my little brother. I would keep this from happening to him as best as I could.

Sasuke fell down at my feet, panting and beaten. I knelt down beside him, working quickly to heal him as much as I could before he could protest to my doing so. He had tears in his eyes; some of them had spilled over quickly falling off of his face. He wouldn't want me to see them so I pretended as though I didn't.

"Why did you stop?" he asked, his voice nearly cracking.

"What?" I asked completely shocked.

"Why did you stop?" he repeated. "These are things I need to know and do, you are right. Why didn't you continue?"

It took me a second to recover from the horror of what he was saying. He wanted to be tortured? "You nearly passed out, for one. Second, I have to meet someone." I paused for a second, sensing something in the woods. "Someone who is already here," I added.


	18. The New Mission

Ceiro suddenly appeared at my side. He was standing, and I knelt down beside Sasuke. As soon as Sasuke saw Ceiro he shrugged my arm off of himself and stood up. He seemed to size Ceiro up and down in an inconspicuous manner while I stood up myself. "Who is this?" he asked.

"Someone I'm training with Sasuke. I would like to see what he can do," I replied. "His name is Ceiro, Ceiro, this is Sasuke."

"It's nice to meet you," Ceiro said, bowing to him slightly.

Sasuke did the same but said nothing in return to Ceiro. "I will see you later," he said before he began to walk off.

I sighed as I watched him go. He was favoring his right leg and most likely had a head ache from the way he carried himself. I knew him well enough to tell where his main injuries are. He rarely ever tells me himself so I had to figure it out.

"He is the Uchiha kid is he not?" Ceiro asked quietly by my side.

"Yes, he is," I replied.

"He is very fond of you; protective as well," Ceiro observed.

Sasuke disappeared from view and I turned to look at Ceiro. "I'm all he has left," I said honestly.

Ceiro stayed silent in respect. He seemed to understand that this was something that shouldn't be talked about.

"Shall we begin?" I asked casually

"Yes, that would be best," he replied.

We both stepped back and took our stances. His stance seemed strangely similar to my own. I smirked liking the fact that the stances was similar, because then I knew its weaknesses, but that also meant that he could know mine. This would be fun I thought.

He jumped forward and I dodged him immediately. And the fight began. He was very skilled, there was no denying that. We were close to being evenly matched, granted I had been training for a while and was pretty worn out. I could beet him if I wasn't so tired, but for right now there was no way for either of us to get the upper hand. I would punch and he would block, I'd block when he punched. He'd use a jutsu I'd counter it. It went back and forth for hours. As far as worth opponents go I picked a good one.

The sun had fallen behind the horizon and we still fought. We were both incredibly tired. I was inches from collapsing, but I couldn't give up.

"Truce!" Ceiro yelled. "Truce. It's getting to dark to see."

"You're just saying that because I nearly had you," I joked. I dropped my stance when he did.

"Of course you did," he replied sarcastically. He walked towards me and stopped about five feet away. "I'm hungry; let's go get something to eat."

"This late at night?" I asked. He didn't say anything so I was guessing that was a yes. "I have no money."

"I'll pay," he said.

"Alright, we should probably talk anyway," I agreed. "Where did you have in mind?"

"I know a place," he countered.

I allowed Ceiro to lead me to a small restaurant on the edge of town. We talked for a while on battle plans and the differences between our fighting styles. He wasn't all that weak, and his failing eyesight would present to be a problem in future fights. It wouldn't be a big problem, but we would need to do something about it.

"Congratulations on your new position, by the way," he said as we slid into our seats.

I frowned. "Thanks for reminding me," I replied dryly.

"Don't you like being in the Council?" he asked. "You have so much power now."

"Power isn't what it's all about," I replied.

"No, it's not," he said. "But it certainly doesn't hurt matters much, especially when you need information."

"I suppose, when looked at in those contexts power can be a very important thing," I replied. "But I already had influence in gathering Intel before I was given this position. Villagers told me what I wanted to know because they knew I would beat them for it, and they still think I have loyalty to one of my former partners."

"Former partner?" he asked with a slight intrigued smirk on his face. "What happened with him?"

This question startled me. I wasn't used to people not knowing. "He went rogue, decided that he didn't like it here or something I guess."

"What was his name?" Ceiro asked, leaning towards me.

"Uchiha, Itachi," I replied.

His reaction wasn't a thing like I expected. I expected him to run away, to tell me that he no longer wanted a partnership, that he thought I was insane and that I should stay away from him. Instead, Ceiro's eyes widened in shock. "The Uchiha who killed off the rest of his clan? He was your former partner?" he asked.

I looked away slightly embarrassed by this. "Yes," I replied quietly. I was preparing for the worst

Ceiro huffed defiantly. "He had skills! I can't even begin to compete with that!" Ceiro protested.

I laughed at that. It was just like a man to make everything a competition. "Actually, his power and strength was played up a lot in the legends. He wasn't as strong as you think he was."

"Oh really? He couldn't trap people in a genjutsu with just one finger?" Ceiro challenged.

"No, that he could do," I replied grudgingly. "But to be fair, so can I. It's not all that difficult once you practice it."

"You've mastered genjutsu?" he asked curiously.

"I wouldn't say mastered, but when the entire village considers you the only person with the ability to stop a man who murdered his own clan and they can only hope that I'm on their side when that time comes, I had to improve my skills a little bit," I replied.

"And would you?" he asked.

"Would I what?"

"Be on their side?" he clarified.

"Of course," I replied. "I'm not going to side with the man who killed the only family I ever knew!"

"So you would kill him if you had to?" he asked, obviously very curious about the subject.

"If I had to, yes I would," I replied.

Ceiro looked at me skeptically. "But you don't want to?" he challenged.

"Why are we talking about this? He's not going to come back, not for the village anyway," I replied.

"You are right, I'm sorry," he said. "It's just interesting to me. Itachi's cruelty is known even in my homeland. It intrigues me to know someone who knew the man before the evil."

I laughed humorlessly. "Man before the evil? Where did you come up with that one? The man was always evil; you don't just one day wake up and decide, 'hey, I'm going to kill everyone I love today'."

"It would have been something he had to think about. People don't come over these decisions lightly I suppose," he said. "But on a lighter note, what will our first mission be? We need to show the people that we can work together."

"I will need to look over missions and decide exactly what fits. It won't be an easy mission, I'm tired of those. The village keeps giving them to me and I can't stand it," I replied.

"I'm not here for easy; I'm here to make a living. I expect to completely earn my pay."

I smiled. "How noble of you. I will meet you at the Hokage's place tomorrow at noon to give you our new mission. We will leave tomorrow night. Sasuke will take it hard, but he'll understand. I might request that they are sent on a mission as well."

"You have been training the Uchiha boy?" he asked.

"I just recently started again," I confessed. "He's determined to kill his brother, and I'm determined not to let him get killed in the process."

"Would you like help with him?" he asked. "It would help us to learn each others training style as well as help him learn methods that you would not teach him."

"That is true," I replied thinking this over carefully. I didn't want to expose Sasuke to something he wasn't ready for. With his new attitude, Sasuke seems ready to take on anything if it'll help him kill Itachi. "Maybe, give me some time to think about it."

"Alright," he said, chuckling slightly. "You're very protective of him." This observation was made by many. I was far too used to it to be offended.

"Yes, I am," I admitted. There is no shame in caring for someone I considered being my brother. "This is why I would like to suggest our first mission to be taking down Orochimaru. He's got one strike too many in my book."

"Orochimaru?" he asked with a shocked look on his face. He looked as if he wanted to tell me I was crazy. Slowly, he seemed to calm down. "You weren't kidding about a challenge."

"He's pushed his limit too far. He challenged the village, and he needs to be shown that we won't stand for it!" I said firmly.

"You expect two ANBU to be able to take down an S ranked missing ninja?" he asked skeptically.

"No," I replied.

"No?" he repeated confused. "So this is to be a suicide mission?"

"No," I replied. "I'm not crazy enough to think that two of us will be able to sneak past his defenses, which he hides behind like a coward. I only wish to wound his recourses… cut off his limbs so to speak. For now, that is all I want to do."

"You have an overall plan for this then?" he asked.

"I know that I do not expect him standing in two years," I confessed. "No matter how I have to do it, I will take him down."

"I agree he needs to be taken care of. A crazy snake in the trees has the potential to do something incredibly dangerous one day," he said.

I glanced down at our now empty bowls and wondered how long it has been this way. I purposefully allowed a yawn to escape my lips, letting him know that I was tired.

He glanced outside to see how dark it was. "I suppose it's time we parted company," he said.

"Yes, that would probably be best for now," I agreed, a small smile playing on my face. "I will meet you in front of the Hokage's building tomorrow at noon. I will sort through everything that is needed."

"Okay," he replied. "I'll see you tomorrow then. I'll stay for a little while longer though, I think."

I nodded and stood up. "You sure you've got this?" I asked referring to the bill.

"I'll pay for it, don't worry," he said. "Consider it payment for doing the paperwork on my new status. I hate paperwork."

"Alright," I smiled. "Thanks." He was okay. I can't even express how happy I am to find someone I actually get along with.

I had something that I needed to do though, I needed to stay focused. I needed to get to my 'second' house. I left the scrolls there, and I had to read those. I had to learn more about this scar, as I labeled it. I needed to know what would happen if I followed it.


	19. The Scar

Everything was quiet in the village after dark. It was strange and incredibly peaceful. I loved the space and complete calm. The only thing I didn't love was how my mind wandered to dangerous ideas. I could just follow the scar without reading. It's probably not harmful in any way.

Thankfully I made it to the house before I acted on any of these thoughts. I immediately went to the scrolls. My curiosity had gotten the best of me. I needed to know what was happening with my head.

I picked up the scroll and began to search through the piles to the best of my ability. It didn't take too long for me to find exactly what I was looking for, but in my impatient state it felt like an eternity.

**The Marking**

Once upon a time there was a male warrior for our growing clan. He ran into an enemy of the village on his travels. It was a woman who had stolen heaps materials from the local market. He immediately engaged her in combat. She was good, and he wasn't prepared for it. He had to use his poison in an effort to tame her. This felt different than the poison he normally used. He didn't know why but he allowed it to continue anyway. The poison entered her body and immediately he used it against her, wearing her down with its pain.

In the back of his head, the warrior could feel a strange hole. He felt the need to explore it. The next thing he knew, he was looking through her eyes back at his body. He could hear her remorseful thoughts. She was poor and needed the money. The clan never knew this.

He immediately shrank back to his own mind and stopped her pain. He took her back to the village and told them of her reasons. He begged them to spare her, saying that it wasn't her fault and that she needed the money. He saved her life. Less than a year later the two were married, their connection to each others minds proving that they were closer than anyone could have imagined. Their love rivaled the love of the beginning couple of the clan. Their closeness was undisputed.

I put the scroll down. I knew that I was going to have to try this too. The closeness wouldn't ever relate to Itachi and I. He didn't commit a crime because he was poor, but he did it just because he could.

All I needed to know was that there was a way out. There wasn't a question about what I was doing next. I closed my eyes and felt for the scar as I called it. I didn't have to search for any length of time. The scar seemed to have grown larger than I had anticipated. I took a calming breath before entering the scar.

There was no short tunnel of blackness like I imagined there would be. It was sudden. One second I was seeing the back of my eyelids, the next I was looking through Itachi's eyes. It took me a few seconds to realize what I was looking at. The second I did I almost had a heart attack.

I knew the place far too well. It was an apartment complex for some of the more wealthy parentless kids. The tree he was perched in looked straight through the window of Sasuke's bedroom. I could feel my heart racing in panic. But Itachi's thoughts weren't full of malice, or death. His thoughts were bordering… well compassion.

But that wasn't possible. Itachi doesn't feel emotions like that. This must not be working the way it's supposed to. There is no way in this world Itachi would be thinking this. There had to be a catch.

The second I was back in my own head I was on my feet. I had to get to Sasuke. I couldn't let him sit alone in that room while his worst enemy stood watching him outside his window. I was there in record time.

I stopped below the tree that I knew he was in. Quietly I made my way up the tree, making sure that I didn't agitate the branches. The slightest sound would tip him off.

It took longer than expected but I finally made it up the tree. He was crouched down halfway down on the branch. I got slightly closer to him, standing straight up so that I stood taller than him.

"Considering the fact that you killed everyone in your clan, I don't think you have the right to spy on your little brother while he's sleeping," I said from behind him

He visibly jumped and turned towards me. I looked down at him expectantly. "I was just um…seeing how strong he's been getting," Itachi replied. He didn't move from his submissive position below my eye level.

"While he was sleeping? Of course you were Itachi," I replied. As much as I wanted there to be, there was no danger for Sasuke here. He didn't intend to hurt Sasuke in any way shape or form. Don't get me wrong, the last thing I wanted was for Sasuke to be in danger, but it was far more confusing to try and reason why Itachi would visit his little brother if harm wasn't intended than if it was.

"I don't have to explain myself to you," he said with a new coldness in his voice. Suddenly he lunged at me causing us both to fall out of the tree. I kicked him away from me in the air, but I didn't have enough time to correct myself before landing. The collision with my spine and the ground was even less pleasant than I thought it would be. There was no crack so I figured that I was okay, but I couldn't help but let out a scream of pain and frustration.

I jumped up to face him. Both of us stood in a fighting position ready to attack if needed. Neither of us moved for the longest time. It was our style to wait until someone else attacked. I met his eyes with a cold fury.

"You're bleeding," Itachi said in a monotone voice. He almost sounded sorry about causing it, almost.

Just as he said it the blood running from my nose reached my mouth. I brought one hand to my nose. "What else is new?" I replied dryly.

He suddenly jumped forward to attack. I deflected immediately, moving to the side at the last second. I threw a kunai as I jumped. It grazed against his arm harmlessly. He threw a punch at my face. Acting quickly I deflected it catching his fist in my hand. I could feel the senbon needles hidden in his fist puncture the skin on my palm.

He twisted his fist in my hands causing the needles to move under my skin. I winced. "I'm glad I didn't believe it when you said you'd never hurt me," I spat.

He froze slightly, probably remembering exactly when he said that. I didn't take that moment for granted either. I focused my entire mind on the large branch behind him. It took more concentration than usual because I had been training all day. I aimed and swung hard at his head. My wooden weapon cracked upon impact, shattering into a million tiny splinters of wood against his hard head. He went flying backwards as a result of the impact.

Unexpectedly, so did I. Somehow he had managed to get chakra strings around me. The second my hand ripped away from his fist I could feel myself spinning out of the chakra strings trap. I rolled in the grass a few feet before I had slowed down enough to stop myself.

The second I stopped I was on my feet. I was aware of spectator's eyes hiding behind glass windows and large trees. Would this be the fight to end the fights between us? I severely hoped so. It was time for this to end.

We were both in our respective stances again. "What was that?" he asked motioning to the splinters on the ground.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I replied venomously.

Suddenly he was directly in front of me. He was faster than I thought he would have been. I thought he was still healing. I ducked to avoid the punch I saw coming and aimed my own gut punch hitting its mark. He fell back holding a katana in his hand. I reached back to grab mine from behind me but it wasn't there. He stole my katana!

Anger rolled over me in waves. I charged forward, and he did the same, only he had a weapon out. I jumped the second I was in striking distance flipping in the air before landing ten feet from his back. I turned back to face him this time holding his katana in my hands. This was the katana he used to kill his entire clan. Evil seemed to pulse from the blade as though it was its own being. The weapon felt heavy in my hands. I couldn't help but react to the chills running down my spine.

"That's right," he said softly. "That's what I used to kill them all. And when I was done there was not a nick in the blade. It was like cutting through butter."

"You're disgusting," I spat.

"And you used to love me, what does that say about you?" he asked.

He was trying to make me angry so that I wouldn't pay attention to the clone getting closer to my right. It would have worked if I didn't know him, but I did. I turned to my right and slashed straight through it immediately. I knew he would have moved to attack when I turned from him so I braced for impact.

Our katanas collided inches from my face, and his on the other side. I had to use all of the strength in my arms to keep him from gaining an advantage.

"Kiyomi," a familiar voice yelled. I glanced over and saw a lit doorway with a darkened silhouette in its center. I didn't have any more time to look at the figure because my attention was immediately stolen by Itachi. He pushed his katana in hard forcing me to jump back.

"I'll see you later," Itachi said. Just like that he disappeared.

"Wait!" I screamed. "I want my katana back!" He was long gone, he wouldn't have heard me. I growled in frustration and threw his cursed katana into the ground. The only thing sticking up from the ground was the hilt. I guess I used a little too much force. Angrily I turned back to the figure in the doorway and stormed over to him. "What was that? I could have taken him! It would have all been over! Why did you do that Sasuke?"

"He was here?" Sasuke asked. "Why didn't anyone wake me?"

There were times when I really didn't like this boy. I sighed and grabbed his arm, dragging him back to his apartment. I didn't stop until I had sat him down on his couch. I grabbed a chair from his kitchen. I sat the wrong way on the chair facing him. "Yes, Itachi was here. Yes I knew this. I had every intention of telling you when I felt that you were ready, that being said, I am proud of you for not outright attacking him when you saw him. But why did you have to say something? Why?"

"Okay, I am sorry," he said simply. He has clearly grown in the short month.

I couldn't help but smile. "I would like you to stay at my house. I came here because I… got a tip that he was here. He was watching you Sasuke."

Sasuke nodded calmly. "You're bleeding," he said, sounding a lot like his brother, which was ironic because Sasuke actually cared. I was pretty sure that Itachi didn't, then again… He stood up from the couch and walked to the kitchen before I could reply. He came back in with a damp rag and handed it to me.

"It's not that bad," I said as I brought the rag to my mouth. "Not like I haven't had worse." I ripped a piece of cloth off of my shirt and wrapped it around my hand.

"I suppose that's true. I remember how awful you looked when you came back from spying on the small organization that the village uncovered," he added.

"Yes, I remember that. I couldn't let them live with what they were planning. They wanted to completely destroy this village. I couldn't let that happen." I explained.

"I know," he replied. "But you could have done it more carefully. You should have gone with a partner."

"I had bad experiences with partners."

"Yes, there were three others after my brother. Two of them were killed in battle."

"Running away from battle," I corrected.

"The third is permanently paralyzed from the neck down."

"Now that was entirely his fault. He was the one who just had to have a souvenir of his mission in the woods. He walked straight into the natives trap. He's lucky I saved him at all."

Sasuke shook his head in disappointment. "You don't work well with others," he concluded.

"I have a new partner now though; I don't think this one will be stupid enough to die so easily."

"The man in the forest?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," I replied. "He seems very skilled."

"Hm," was his only reply.

"Pack your things," I said after a minute. "You'll be bunking at my place. You'll have a new mission tomorrow, I'm not sure what, but when I'm out of the village you will be as well."

Sasuke nodded and stood up. I did so as well, putting the chair back where I found it before waiting at the door. He showed up two minutes later. The rest of the night carried on silently. We got back to the house and went to sleep without incident.


	20. Changing Plans

I woke up early that morning, knowing that I'd need to get to the Hokage's building. I wasn't looking forward to that. I had to assign two teams to a mission and establish Ceiro as my partner.

I made breakfast and left some on the table for Sasuke when he finally got his lazy butt out of bed. Sasuke wasn't normally lazy, he was always up before the sun, but I guess today was his day to sleep in, everyone needs one every once and a while.

I began to put on my normal outfit when I realized that the council had their own attire. There was not a chance in this world that I would ever wear those heavy robes. I would have to find some new attire then. I would stick with my ANBU outfit for today though. I grabbed my mask and put it in a pack that I was carrying across my chest that contained all of my overnight mission equipment.

I exited the house, being sure to lock the doors to avoid unwanted intrusions and began to walk down the streets. The morning fog had not yet lifted. I could see shadows of people walking in the distance, but nothing more than that. Every shop in the streets was closed, aside from one that had just opened its doors for breakfast behind me. A few crickets could be heard chirping in the distance.

Everything seemed so peaceful, but that wasn't what I saw. Every darkened doorway, every alley they were all potential hiding places. My hand rested on my pack with weapons in it. He was watching me, there was no doubting that. Every shadow in front of me I had to size, to make sure it wasn't him. Some would call it paranoia, but I could _feel_ him here.

She still didn't watch the sky. She would be dead if she ever let her guard down, it was a good thing she never did. Itachi jumped to the next roof, landing silently in a crouch before walking forward again. His hand rested gently on her katana. She didn't have his. He didn't expect her to.

She wasn't even comfortable on her own streets. He watched as she tensed even further while passing an alleyway. Her eyes were glued to the road, but it wasn't what she was really focused on. She was watching the shadows. She didn't trust anything. Part of him had to wonder if she could still sense his presence. He never could sneak up on her when they were younger. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he remembered how many times he tried before he deemed the task impossible. Somehow he always ended up with a bruise on his face.

Quietly he fell back. He had more important things to do right now and he had to get going.

I stood in front of the council, my new colleagues, and the Hokage. I had informed them that I had taken on a new partner ten minutes ago. Tsunade had yet to stop laughing.

"Have you warned the poor boy yet?" she asked, in between fits of laughter.

"I see no need to give him cause to panic. He seems like a good kid and I highly doubt he'll make the same mistakes as the others," I replied.

She wiped the tears from her eyes, still chuckling to herself. "Alright, alright," she said, calming down. "I trust you already have a mission picked out then.

"I do," I replied. "Our enemy's numbers are great. I think it's time we take out some of the major players, starting with Orochimaru."

"You plan to take out Orochimaru by yourself?" one of the council members asked, completely outraged. She stood up from her chair, as though she could not properly express her anger in a seated position. "How could a kid like you do something like that when our own Hokage could not?"

"By first weakening his assets," I replied, looking over at the person who had spoken out. "I planned to take down one of his forts near the village, and slowly branch out from there. When he has nothing else, my partner and I will take him down together."

"With all due respect Kiyomi, you have a lot of skill, and while he might also be very skilled, he is not Itachi. You are mistaking this boy's powers to equal that of your equal. You were stronger with Itachi by your side, and at that time could have done anything, but this boy is not that good. You will not be able to beat Orochimaru with him," Danzo said. He seemed to need to remind me and the council of Itachi every chance he got. I hated him for it.

"With all due respect Danzo," I began, repeating his words. "Have you even seen Ceiro fight?"

"No, but he can't be as good as-"

"No," I repeated. "Then how can you say that he isn't as good? Why do you insist on speaking of Itachi when is not even involved in the conversation? I was merely speaking of my newest partner and I going on a mission. I have had three partners since Itachi, and yet you never speak of them. I can not help but think that you mean to aggravate me." Oh, that felt good, granted it was in a formal tone, but it felt good!

Danzo looked outraged. He was planning on telling me so. His big mouth was opened and ready to throw out insults like knives cutting through me. After the verbal abuse would come the physical. He was always looking forward to the physical abuse. Then he remembered that it was no longer his place to yell at me. The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. I was his equal. I was allowed to put him in his place. He couldn't harm me.

The sight of his face when he realized that I had every right to speak out against him was beyond priceless, even if the look only lasted a second. He sat down without another word. There are very few moments in my life that I actually want to carry on into forever, but this was definitely one of them.

"Alright," Tsunade said. "This mission is important, and needs to be done. The takedown of Orochimaru will take forever, but the journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step, or whatever, so go ahead."

I chuckled. "Thanks. I have a small request as well."

"Oh, and what is that?" Tsunade asked.

"I would like you to send team 7 on a mission while I am gone," I said.

"Why is that?" One of the council members asked.

"I am sure that last nights incident didn't escape your notice, Itachi is in the village. I have formally taken myself off of the case because I feel that we both know each others weaknesses and strengths too well to be able to win in a fight against each other. I still don't think it is safe to leave both Naruto and Sasuke in the village when the only person who is equally matched with him is no longer here," I explained.

"She does have a good point," the other council member said to Danzo. While Danzo is a council member too, he is the only one I ever cared to learn the name of. The other two are far more trivial to me.

"Alright," Tsunade said, "We'll find something to send them on."

"Thank you," I replied sincerely. Without another word I walked out of the office, feeling thoroughly content with how things went. I wasn't leaving Sasuke alone in the village, and I could begin to take down the one main threat to his wellbeing. I also got to completely humiliate one of my biggest adversaries since I was 15.

While I did not believe that Itachi would specifically look for his brother, I also didn't think that Sasuke would sit around idly watching time pass by him while Itachi was in the village, and if it came to a fight, Sasuke would be severely injured. I would not let that happen while I was away.

I shielded my eyes from the sun. I hadn't expected that to take so long. It was around 8:00 in the morning. I had gotten in there no later than 6:30. Those people sure do know how to waste my time.

"Good morning," a voice called to me. The sudden glare of the sun made it impossible to see his face, but with my training there was no mistaking his voice. It was Ceiro.

"Hey," I replied. "I thought I said we'd meet at 12:00."

"You did," he said. "But I was awake, and I figured if you were done with getting everything ready, we could start early. We are going after an S-ranked criminal after all."

"That's the story of my life," I replied.

"You hunt down S-ranked criminals?" he asked. "Have you caught any?"

"A few," I confessed. "Not that you would know their names."

"I might," he protested. He sounded slightly hurt by my accusation.

I smiled. "I don't mean to offend you," I said. "I am only saying that the criminals that I take down are no longer found in any records."

"So, are we going to leave early or not?" he asked.

"Yes, it's probably best for me to leave before Sasuke notices my absence," I said. "I don't want to do any more explaining." I began walking towards the gate, granted it would still be a long walk.

"More explaining?" he asked. "What did you have to explain?" He began following after me seconds later.

I sighed. "I had to explain, why Itachi was outside his window while he was sleeping, and why I knew he was there and was fighting him."

"Itachi was at Sasuke's house?" he asked. He seemed to genuinely care about what I said which was a nice change. "Wait, I thought you said that he wouldn't come back to the village."

"I said he wouldn't come back FOR the village, and yes he was at Sasuke's house," I replied, glancing over at him curiously. I couldn't help but wonder how he would react to my next comment. "But I don't think Sasuke was in any danger."

"How could he not have been in any danger? His brother who had killed their entire family was watching him."

"I don't know," I said. I thought carefully about what I was going to say next. I had to be completely sure that I could trust him before I told him anything this big. He seemed incredibly interested in my more famous previous partner, and I didn't really want to tell someone I just met something so in depth, but I felt like I could trust him for some strange reason. "It's strange, but Itachi didn't plan to hurt him. I knew this man, and I know that he had absolutely no intentions of hurting Sasuke."

"Do you realize how little sense that makes?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied softly. "Why do you think I was up so early, to catch worms? I needed time to think through that. It makes absolutely no sense to me, then again little ever does when it comes to the elder Uchiha."

"He really gets to you doesn't he?" Ceiro asked.

I looked over at him. I was about to scream at him for even making those accusations. I stopped for a small second and realized just how right he was. I hadn't slept but 4 hours last night, and even then I had horrible nightmares. Ever single one of them was about him. "No, not really," I lied. "I just feel the need to protect Sasuke so I can not allow something like this to escape my knowledge. If he really got to me, I'd still be hunting him down. I gave it up this morning."


	21. The Offer

Ceiro said no more after that. It was almost like he could sense the lie in my words. I needed time to process all that he had said. In all the time that he's been away from me it really didn't matter. Uchiha Itachi still knew exactly how to push me. But if he knew how to push me, that also meant that I knew how to push him back.

We had just exited the village gates. No one could stop this mission now, not even the Uchiha. Ceiro cleared his throat beside me. I turned to look at him.

"This is going to sound like a slightly strange question, but did you… lose something in your last fight with Itachi?" he asked.

I had to think for a second but no more than that because I could feel the missing weight on my hip. "Yes," I admitted. "He took my katana."

Ceiro suddenly pulled a blade, my blade, from a sheath at his side.

"Where did you get that?" I asked. I grabbed for the blade immediately. The familiarity I felt with it when my hand connected with the hilt was surreal. This blade was meant for me, I have known that since the day I picked it up.

"This is what woke me up," he said. "I found it forced into my front door… along with a note."

"A note?" I asked. I tried not to show how much that upset me. How long had Itachi been watching me?

"Yes," Ceiro said. "He knows that I'm your partner. He told me to return it to you."

I thought for a minute. "I can't believe this. I tell the council that I don't want to hunt him anymore and he pulls this crap! Do you have the note?" I asked.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment with a tear at the top where my katana would have been. "You gave up?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm tired of hunting him, it's pointless," I explained. I reached for the note and read it.

_Kiyomi,_

_Your weapon is too light for me to use. I thank you for returning mine, and have repaid you by returning yours as well, through a source that you consider reliable, your new partner. He looks weak. He could never be as synchronized with you as I was. You can feel that. Do you remember how powerful we were? Nothing could defeat us. _

_You are still very powerful. I can sense that you're holding back, why? Are you afraid you'll hurt me? You always were watching my back, it was very sweet. It proves how much you loved me, how much you still feel for me._

_If you came back with me we could still be partners. My leader has refused to let me kill you; he would like to meet you. I told him that you were worthless, but he still seems convinced. This is my first and only painless offer. It will escalade from here. You will come with me._

_Itachi_

I glared at the paper, wishing that one of my elements was fire. I ripped the paper up into as many tiny pieces that physics would allow. "I'd rather die," I muttered.

Ceiro chuckled beside me. "If you could rip that paper any more it'd be dust," he observed.

"That's the goal," I replied angrily.

"What did he say?" Ceiro asked.

"He said that you are weak in comparison to him," I replied.

"Well, in comparison to him most anyone looks weak," he said.

"I told you, that's his legend, not him. He's not as strong as everyone has led you to believe. He's human, I promise."

Ceiro laughed at that. "You're sure he's human?" he asked jokingly.

"Entirely," I replied. "He can die like any other human, and he has weaknesses like any other human."

"I wonder what his greatest weakness is," Ceiro said, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. I could catch the double meaning in his glance.

"He's trying to kill me; do you really believe that he'd try to kill his greatest weakness?"

"It's plausible," he replied. "If you were about to join an evil organization what would you first have to get rid of?"

"I might have been his weakness in the past, but that was a long time ago," I said.

"Then why is he back for you?" Ceiro asked quietly. His voice seemed to get lower as he spoke the treacherous words that I had been avoiding since his return to the village.

"He's back because I know too much," I said determinedly. "I'm a loose end."

"Then why hasn't he killed you yet?"

"Because he can't."

"Has he used Mangekyō on you yet?"

"Why are we even talking about this?" I asked. "Why do you care why he's around? Is that your problem?"

"Are you my partner?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. I knew what he was getting at.

"It is my problem because he is after my partner, the person that I am supposed to protect," he said.

"Well, I'm glad you are so determined to protect me, but I really don't want to talk about this, not yet." I was kind of getting tired of him talking about Itachi. If I didn't know any better I'd think that he was in love with my former partner himself.

"Alright," he said. "But I think you need a fresh pair of eyes on this subject. We will need to talk about it some day."

The silence after that was far less bearable. My mind was now filled with thoughts of my worst enemy, treacherous thoughts. We had a code so he couldn't use his Sharingan, but why did we have this code? It wasn't there to protect him. We didn't normally give out codes to abide by when we were being hunted. All he had to do was use Mangekyō on me and I would have been out long enough for him to get me back, wounded or not. Granted, I could counter it some. I have never fought it before, but I'm sure that I would still stand a pretty good chance with my Kekkai Genkai.

Why did he make these rules up for me though? He was trying to capture me. It makes no sense!


	22. Our First Mission

"There it is," I said as the light colored plaster of walls began to appear through the trees. The building was old and couldn't be in any worse condition. It was one story, but that didn't mean it was small. It was like a hotel. There were hundreds of people in the rooms. Adrenaline was pulsing through my veins as I prepared my mind for what was about to come. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Ready to begin taking down a psychopath? Of course I am," he replied. He was smiling. Part of me found this strange, but I decided to leave it alone.

I looked at him carefully, surveying his actual readiness before continuing. He appeared to be alright, but seemed to know exactly what I was doing. His smile switched to one of a subtle smirk, but kept his eyes on me.

"Alright," I said. "Are you confident enough to take the left wing, or do we have to go one at a time?"

"I think that you're the one that needs to be a little less confident," Ceiro assessed. "There are hundreds of skilled people in there, and you could easily get hurt."

I scoffed. "Your concern is touching, but unnecessary," I replied trying to keep the ice out of my voice. He didn't know what I was truly capable of yet, I couldn't get mad at him for treating me like a Genin until at least two weeks into the partnership. "I will be perfectly fine, as long as I don't have to deal with you getting hurt."

"I'd hate to be a hassle for you," he replied looking slightly annoyed. I have to admit… I worded that a little impolitely.

"Can you do it?" I asked, ignoring his sarcasm. He'd have to get used to my abrasiveness eventually.

"With ease," he replied coolly. "You?"

"I'll beat you," I replied allowing a smile to worm across my face as well.

He looked at me for a minute and seemed to be seriously contemplating something. A grin spread across his face suddenly. "You're on," he replied.

Both of us jumped from our hiding spot immediately. The two guards patrolling were easy enough to take down. They weren't very skilled. Genin level maybe. All it took was a strategically placed kunai.

The door was another matter. It was old, metal, and rusted. It would alert anyone to our presence within seconds. Quickly I activated a jutsu that I learned from one of my former mentors. I allowed myself to slowly fall through the brick wall beside the door. It felt almost like my entire body was melting through the wall. There was no one present in the immediate vicinity. I took off down the right hall, marking the wall with a kunai. Orochimaru had a tendency to format his hideouts in many difficult and confusing ways, turning it into a demonic funhouse. It was best to mark a way back out.

I didn't run into my first challenge, if you could call it that, until the third stretch of hallway. There were three young sound ninja walking down the hall completely oblivious to me. I slowly stepped into the hallway, walking casually. I couldn't help but wonder exactly how long it would take them to realize that I was there. I was able to get within six feet of one of them before they saw my headband.

"Hey, wait you're fr-" was all he could say before my katana (which I was grateful to have back) was forced through his stomach.

The other two were prepared after that. One of them looked slightly older. I was hoping that meant that she was going to present a challenge. She had flaming red hair that was cut above her shoulders and blue eyes. She was taller than me by a few inches, but that wouldn't be a problem. I'm used to facing giants. The boy ran at me head first, unintentionally providing a distraction for the girl. She tried to dart down another hallway, but as I dodged the weak attempt from the boy by grabbing his wrist, I forced his hand towards her, flinging his kunai at her leg. She fell, momentarily out of the fight.

I turned my attention to the boy who I had a hold on. He really was just a kid, younger than Sasuke even. I couldn't kill this kid. He barely even knew what he was doing. HE might not even be here of his own free will. No kid deserves to go through the torture of being a servant to Orochimaru.

"Girl," I called to the redhead who was now standing. "Do you wish to live?"

She looked genuinely surprised by this, as though she had never been shown mercy before. It seemed as though she expected it to be a trap. "Yes," she said. Her stance was strong, but her voice was timid.

I pulled the boy forward and twisted him to press on his pressure point at the base of his skull. He was out within the second. I picked him up and walked towards her. "Then take him," I instructed. "Go to the sand village. Don't make me regret this, because I never forget a face, and I will hunt you down."

The girl nodded and timidly took the boy from me. Now that I looked at them I could see the resemblance. She was probably his older sister. She seemed terrified that I might change my mind now that she was at a weakened state. "Go," I commanded.

She was gone within seconds. I couldn't show mercy like that often. People would think that I was weak, or a fool. Neither was good for my profession. It took forever for me to get my reputation and I had every intention of keeping it. People thought I was ruthless and I tried to be. It was hard the first few times not being able to take mercy on anyone, but after a while you get used to it. I wasn't naturally a killer, but I had to become one.

All in all I killed one-hundred and fifty-two in the right wing. It turned out to be a very good starting place. It was nearly deserted and served as a good first lesson for Orochimaru. He'd probably think it was someone who needed a place to stay and thought it was an easy place to overtake.

The hallways connected at the very back, so I decided to wait for Ceiro there. There were a few things I wanted to test with him still, like his ability to navigate through difficult or confusing terrain, or his speed. I didn't have to wait very long. Ceiro walked through the hallway very peacefully. It looked like he didn't run into anything at all. Of course, that's probably how I appeared as well. It was just strange to actually see. I'd have to get used to having an adequate partner to fight with.

"How many did you find?" he asked before I could. How strange. Normally it takes a little while before the thoughts of two people are synchronized in any way, shape or form. I guess some people were just made to click.

"I killed 152, there were 156, but I let two of them go. One was just a kid, and the other was his sister," I explained. He didn't seem like he minded too much.

"I had 157 on my end," he replied. "Mercy isn't a normal thing for you is it?"

"No, that was a special case," I answered. "Mercy is a rarity."

"Good, we do not want to appear lenient," he said, straightening up. "People like Orochimaru would have a field day with that." I'm glad we were on the same page with this as well.

"I can think of a few people who would love to know my weaknesses," I replied.

"Yes, Itachi would have a field day," Ceiro said. He turned his back to me and began walking towards his hallway. He was far too good at catching on to subtle hints.

"Ceiro," I called after him. "I'll race you back."

He turned back to face me and a small smirk appeared across his face. "You're on," he replied. With that he was gone, but I didn't really see him disappear because I wasn't there. I was racing through the halls, avoiding the bodies of my attackers. I hated this part, it reminded me too much of the compound. There was one main difference between these people and the Uchiha's was that these people deserved it. When people squander their lives in the evils of the world they have no right to keep it.

I reached the exit before Ceiro did. I honestly hadn't expected to. I thought it would have taken me longer because I was slightly distracted, but he was nowhere in sight. I opened the door, wanting to escape the horrid building. Ceiro will find me there.

The second I stepped outside a purple streak of hair stopped 20 feet in front of me. His glowing blue eyes seemed to penetrate my skin. It was like he could see into my soul. We were both frozen for a long minute, unable to say anything.

"Who are you?" I asked finally. I spoke quietly because I was afraid that something much louder than a whisper would scare him away.

His head turned slightly, as though my speech confused him. He stepped forward. His hand casually slipped down to his pocket. My eyes categorized every movement he made very carefully. He was very quiet while walking. "My name is Natsume," he said softly. His voice was smooth. Just from his tone I could tell that he was going to be a slippery person. He was someone who could do horrible things and not get caught.

"Why are you following me?" I asked.

A small smirk appeared on his face he stopped advancing towards me. We both stood and stared at each other, both of us waiting. "You intrigue me," he said simply. "That and my employers have acquired a strange interest in you. I can't say I blame them."

"Your employers?" I asked. "What do they want with me?"

"Don't ask, don't tell, baby," he said smoothly. I could hear the door open behind me. Natsume's crystal blue eyes darted to the door. Ceiro stood in the doorway glaring back at the purple haired boy with a fury that I have seen only a handful of times in my life. Half of those times I was walking past a reflective surface.

Ceiro's hand was holding a bloody katana. I could only guess that he ran into trouble. He stepped to my side not sheathing his weapon, never taking his eyes off of Natsume.

"Ah," Natsume said, "We must have met before."

"We have," Ceiro agreed. His jaw was locked, and his eyes were as cold as ice. I didn't know it was possible for him to look this menacing. I never actually thought of him as threatening before this moment. "You sold yourself to a group that was trying to kill my friend."

"Well apparently I succeeded because I have yet to fail," Natsume said confidently. "You really should stop befriending my targets then."

"You are not taking her," he said determinedly. Him defending me was surprising, but kind of charming. I have known him for two days, and he is already trying to come to my rescue. I didn't know whether to be flattered or freaked out.

"I'd like to see you stop me. You've failed once, what makes you think this time will be any different," Natsume said cruelly. "Tell you what. I'll give you a few more days with her, since I took one of your friends from you already, how does that sound?"

"You are not taking her," Ceiro said again.

"We'll see," Natsume replied. And just as quickly as he came, he was gone.

Ceiro glanced down at me but said nothing. I could tell from the look on his face that he didn't want to talk about his experience with Natsume. That was perfectly fine with me. Natsume looked like he could have been a good fighter but nothing I couldn't handle. He didn't really know what he was getting into.


	23. Ceiro's Theory

We went on dozens of missions like our last one. They got increasingly more difficult, naturally, but they were all the same. We went into buildings that all were beginning to look very similar, destroyed its inhabitance and left. We had finally gotten to the point where we had to stay together and fight. The fights seemed to go more quickly that way.

Ceiro and I made a good team. We could be in and out of a building within three hours if we worked as a team compared to seven hours alone. We always got out with barely a scratch, but we couldn't say the same for the buildings we entered. Some of them were completely torn down by the fighting. He was an excellent fighter, but an even better strategist. In most battles he rarely used any chakra, but rather let the enemy's plan collapse on itself, bringing down several opponents with it. Since he survived the first five missions the village began to take him more seriously as my new partner, rather than looking at him as a temporary stand in with an expiration date.

The missions were taking up more and more time, however. We had to get further and further away from the village every time. I was spending more time with Ceiro than I ever thought I would. Strangely, I liked him a lot more than I thought I would too. It was merely a friendship, but I normally don't take to anyone enough to put them in the category of friend. Kakashi and Sasuke were the only two real exceptions to that. I suppose it could be because of a few trust issues that were formed by my former partner. Ceiro was coming dangerously close to earning my trust. I still didn't drop my guard around him, however. It's hard for anyone to truly forget when they were nearly killed for trusting someone they considered to be their best friend.

We went back to the village when we were done with a mission but for no more than a few days at a time. During those days I trained with Sasuke. He seemed to just begin to grasp the concept of a good strategy, which was completely opposite of his brother. Itachi always used to have a plan. It was difficult to reform Sasuke's thought process. I knew that it'd be hard but I never thought he would be this hell-bent on moving headfirst into battle. He was so stuck on only thinking one thing (killing his brother) that he tuned out everything else in the world.

Neither of my two stalkers made another appearance in the next few weeks. Natsume stayed away. I didn't even catch a glimpse of those blue eyes in the darkness. He promised he'd be back, but I think he was having a harder time finding me again than he anticipated. I was barely in one place for more than a day, unless it was the village; and even then I didn't stay in one place for very long.

Itachi on the other hand, I could sense. His presence followed me everywhere. He never showed himself to me, but he was always there. I could feel him. It didn't even matter how many years had passed. His presence never left. It had been three years since this feeling had last occurred, and now it wouldn't go away. Even while I was on missions he was there. His presence made my skin crawl. I knew he wasn't going to go away until I went to the Akatsuki with him, conscious or not, but I had no idea what was taking him so long to act. He was more than likely studying my strategies in combat, but it's not like they've changed much. He should just act now or leave me alone!

I tried not to focus on the feeling of him surrounding me. I kept him out of my immediate train of thought. I concentrated fully on whatever task was at hand, purposefully preoccupying my mind with thousands of other things, trying to keep from thoughts of him. Thoughts of him were like poison infecting my mind; once they started it was nearly impossible to get them to stop, and they almost always caused me pain.

Ceiro made that avoiding Itachi especially hard. Almost every day he'd bring up my former partner. It was getting to the point where I just wanted to scream. Why does he even care? It's like Ceiro had a secret obsession with Itachi. It was one of the only aspects of Ceiro that I could not stand!

It got worse at night. When we were through with our missions we would have no energy to do anything but talk. Normally he'd choose difficult topics, not unpleasant but rather ones that required a significant amount of thought. He would pick the worst times to talk about them too; when I was too tired to think, and could barely even form coherent sentences. It aggravated me that he couldn't find any other topics but the ones I really didn't want to talk about. He was relentless in his interrogations. This night in particular was one of the worst.

"Have you thought about it anymore?" Ceiro asked. We were both huddled around a fire with our tents set up behind us. We just finished eating, and talking about what we were going to do next. I made the food tonight because, as Ceiro mentioned earlier, he was no cook.

I waited for him to continue with his question. "Thought about what?" I asked when he didn't clarify.

"You know what, Kiyomi," he said in an almost disappointed manner. He threw another log on the fire. "Why Itachi has come back for you?"

"I have been strictly avoiding thinking about things like that," I replied exasperatedly. Itachi's reasoning for coming back wasn't something I really wanted to think about, especially now. We had just finished a mission and I was exhausted. The last thing I wanted to think about was my murderous ex-partner's reasoning for repeatedly attacking and stalking me. I couldn't even begin to contemplate the reasons for why he didn't attack his brother. That was not even in my range of capabilities right now.

"You know it's something you need to think about, right?" he asked in a condescending tone. He reminded me of a father or older brother when he said things in that tone. It killed me when he treated me like a child.

"Why, Ceiro?" I retorted. "Why do I need to think about the reasoning behind a mad man's actions?" I just wanted to forget about him until he got up the courage to show his face again. He was out of my life for now, why wouldn't Ceiro let him stay out?

"Because if you never look at the reasoning, you will never truly know how to stop him," Ceiro said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sometimes I hated Ceiro's words of wisdom. I gave him a look that he knew meant that he was winning.

"What are your theories?" Ceiro asked.

I sighed, giving up the fight against him. I was in no mood to fight tonight. I pushed myself too hard today, trying to take down more people at once than usual. I thought it would be good exercise for me. It was… and Ceiro was taking advantage of my lack of stamina tonight. "I've told you he's come to either tie up loose ends, or to bring me to the Akatsuki. He said so himself. It's as simple as that," I replied.

"So you're going to just take him at his word?" Ceiro asked. "You'd trust him that much to not truly look into things for yourself?"

"N-no," I waivered. I hadn't thought about it that way before. Trusting Itachi was something I promised myself that I'd never do again, but here I found myself doing so anyway. I hate it when Ceiro's right. I could sense his self satisfaction growing as he won another small victory. "But your reasoning makes no sense to me either. If he somehow saw me as a weakness he'd try to distance himself from me, not come closer to me."

"What about my second theory?" Ceiro asked.

"What? That he still care's about me?" I asked, adding a sarcastic laugh to the end of my sentence. Itachi could possible care about me anymore. If I was sure of anything I was sure of that. "If that was the case, why hurt me?"

"When was the last time he caused you serious injury?" Ceiro asked.

"He stuck senbon needles into my hand and knocked me 70 feet out of a tree," I responded, glaring at Ceiro as I spoke.

He had been glared at by me far too much for it to take effect now. "But did that seriously injure you?" Ceiro asked, "Or could that have been faked for the sake of his lie?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but thought against it quickly. A number popped into my head; a number that would mean nothing to anyone else, but it meant everything to me: .05. I placed my hand against my chest where the kunai had been. I could still feel the horrible burning. The coldness of the blade inside my body haunted my nightmares. The silver impression of where the blade had been sticking out of my chest was still there, reminding me what rewards trust brings. A memory of a comforting voice from the darkness and pain of my blackout suddenly came to me. I don't remember ever hearing this voice before, like this memory was suppressed. I don't remember what the voice as saying, only that it was comforting. For now it would remain muffled in my memory.

"So, when was the last time he seriously hurt you?" he asked again when I didn't answer.

"He nearly killed me that night," I replied dryly. "Explain that." I wanted to hear his reasoning to that one. How would he spin this to make it sound like Itachi was the good guy?

"Was it truly his intention to kill you?" Ceiro asked the very question that was on my mind. "Or did he want to make it look like he wanted to kill you?"

"Why would he want to make it look like he tried to kill me? That makes no sense," I replied, refusing to listen to Ceiro's reasoning. I realized that I sounded like a child.

He seemed to think about that for a minute, as though it was a difficult problem. "I guess you're right," he replied. "Itachi is just a complete heartless wretch. He never had any feelings, and he never will."

I felt this undying urge to defend him. I had to work to keep my mouth closed, biting the inside of my cheek while doing so. He nearly killed me and I still felt the need to defend him, it made me sick. But I knew that Itachi could feel. I've felt his feelings before. When I was inside his mind I could sense them; pain, sadness, neglect. It didn't take me long to realize that this was Ceiro's point. Itachi wasn't heartless. The only thing I ever thought was human in him was the fact that he could die, but him being human meant more than just mortality. It meant that he had thoughts, he had… feelings. That made Ceiro's hypothesis plausible. It's difficult to even think about. He tried to kill me and he loves me, it didn't make sense. I would never be able to make sense of his logic. Not unless he cleared it up himself, and there was a fat chance of that considering the fact that every time that we saw each other we would ended up with our swords drawn to each other's throat.

"It makes no sense," I said quietly, more to myself.

Ceiro smiled. "When had anything ever normally made sense?" he asked. I reached to massage my temples, attempting to alleviate a growing headache. "On that note, I'm going to bed." He stretched and retreated into his tent, leaving me alone to think on what he said.


	24. Breaking My Will

I walked outside of the tent, needing air to think. Moving my legs hurt after all the butt kicking that I did earlier that day. The area we were camping in was surrounded by woods. The brisk air was helping ease my muscle pain to an extent. It was a little bit easier to think clearly with the cold keeping me conscious. The breeze hinted at frost, meaning that the beginning of winter was approaching. I could see my breath in front of my face. The shadows moved in fluid motions with the wind. Leaves crunched under my feet. Despite how far away I got from camp, the feeling of Itachi's presence stayed with me. Maybe it was because of the scar in my mind. Surely he hadn't followed me this far out of the village.

I walked around 200 feet into the forest and stopped, deciding that this was as much privacy as I was ever going to get. I leaned my head against a tree in front of me. Ceiro had to be wrong. If he was right that meant that I'd have to actually think about what I felt for Itachi.

What did I feel for Itachi?

He killed his family. _Why?_

He nearly killed me. _Why?_

He hated war. He hated bloodshed. The only way he'd ever kill anyone on our missions was if he knew 110% that it would stop bloodshed. How did killing his clan stop bloodshed? If what I knew about Itachi was correct there had to be a way that the massacre stopped even more suffering than it created. But if that was true and he had to kill his clan, why kill my parents? Why kill me?

_.05_

A cold breeze hit me as I finally allowed myself to accept that he didn't try to kill me. He made it look like he was trying to kill me. I tried to deny it for weeks, but I knew that it was the truth. He used the same tactics on kill missions when he didn't want to kill. Shivers ran down my spine. Why would he want to make it look like he tried to kill me?

Why would he want to make it look like he was trying to kill anyone? That answer was simple. His mission was to kill the person, but he didn't want to. Who would give him a mission to kill me? Akatsuki? Then why were they trying to recruit me? No, it couldn't have been them; I'd be dead if it was them, besides, Itachi hadn't even fallen on their radar until after the massacre.

The massacre. Why would he leave Sasuke alive? Sasuke… he might have overheard something… but he wasn't a part of Itachi's reason for killing his clan was. Itachi couldn't bear to kill his own brother. It wasn't in him. Even if Sasuke was a part of it, Itachi couldn't kill the things he loved. Did those things include me?

I let my forehead fall a tree, producing a soft thud, hoping that answers would magically fall on my head. Despite my profuse wishing, they did not. All I got was an ear splitting headache. I sighed. My body was practically begging me to go and rest. It took a few minutes more of me standing in silent, angered confusion before I obliged. I turned back towards the camp.

A pair of deep onyx eyes met mine. There was a tragically sad look in the dark eyes; one that I could never understand. _Itachi_.

I couldn't force my body to reach for a weapon. He wasn't stopping me from grabbing for them; it was my own mind that refused to let me hurt him. Somehow I knew that he wouldn't move if I tried. My entire body was trembling, but not in fear. That look in his eyes, it was so full of emotion. Emotion that I had only dreamed of seeing from him again.

His eyes weren't red. He wasn't using his Sharingan. Was this a trap? Chills ran down my spine as my forest green eyes met his. This wasn't the look of a man who wanted to trap anyone; this was a look of pain and desperation.

There was liquid beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. I could only imagine what he was reliving. I wanted to let him know that everything was going to be okay, but I knew it wasn't. Nothing would ever be okay. We both knew that. I could feel the liquid in my own eyes as well. Here I was, mourning the loss of our future, me and a mass murderer; me and my worst enemy; me and the love of my life.

In that moment all I wanted to do was pretend that everything would be okay. I knew that it wouldn't be, but I couldn't help myself. This moment could be perfect. We could pretend like nothing ever happened, just for a day, just for a minute.

"I-Itachi," I whispered quietly. My arm ached to reach out for him, but I caught it. There was always the slight possibility of a trap. I had to watch myself. Some part of him seemed to register that I was calling him. His expression came to be that of a confused child. It was as though he couldn't make sense of the fact that I would ever say his name. That was probably the same look I wore when I saw his face, his eyes for the first time. This was no murderer standing before me, this was _my_ Itachi. My love.

He brought his hand up slowly to my cheek. The second he touched me, the little piece of will and sense that I had left crumbled to dust. Tonight my fight was completely gone. I could no longer resist anything. I had cracked. Tomorrow I'd be fine, but tonight I couldn't be strong anymore. His touch was so gentle, caring. I fell straight into it without a second thought. This was where I belonged.

"Kiyomi," he said quietly. A tremor ran through my body when he spoke my name. I waited three years to hear him say my name in that tone just once more. He stepped forward, leaning down so that his forehead was resting on mine. His eyes closed, enjoying this moment as much as I was. He took a deep breath and his eyes scrunched together as though he was in pain. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. His breath flew gently across my lips. A small tear landed on my cheek. Itachi didn't cry. He wouldn't show that kind of weakness, that kind of emotion.

I could feel the pain in his words flow through his body. His eyes were still closed. He didn't want to open them, to look at me. I leaned towards him. My lips brushed his gently, as a sign of forgiveness. This seemed to surprise him. His eyes opened in shock. The first time I've seen such a pleasant form of shock on his face in three and a half years.

"I-I" he stuttered, not knowing what to say. The great and mighty Itachi was at a loss for words. He had expected me to hate him for what he did to me. I couldn't hate him. I tried, but I just couldn't. He suddenly pressed his lips against mine, much more passionate than the first time. I kissed him back. This kiss was filled with deeper meaning and emotion. It held sadness, mourning, joy, forgiveness, and understanding. The most significant of all of the emotions in that kiss was the strong mutual love we felt for one another, something we could never un-feel.

I remembered the last time we kissed. His lips fit mine perfectly. I pulled him closer, trying to keep myself together. I was so overcome that I felt like I could fall to pieces at any moment. I loved this man.

When we finally released each other's mouth we were both surprised at how close we were. There was no space between us. The restraints of our poisonous bind had been released to allow our emotions to pour through to us. His hands were placed securely against my lower waist. My fingers were tangled in his hair.

Itachi looked as though he was contemplating something incredibly difficult. "Look up file 2196 and 2197 in the council files," he said finally. "They explain everything."

I nodded. I would have been happy to never move from this position. I was at peace, as was he. This world was truly cruel. We were both happy here, but because of what it had done we could not be together. I leaned my head against his chest and closed my eyes. His warmth against my body combated the cool breeze. It was an amazing feeling, having him this close again. "Don't leave," I whispered. "Not yet."

I could feel him breathing softly into my hair. His grip on me tightened in response. As quickly as I could blink we were in front of a beautiful waterfall. I recognized it as a semi-hidden place in Konoha. I looked up at him, not even needing to ask my question. "Your poison, it enhanced the Uchiha abilities," he explained.

"I guess it's not all bad then is it?" I asked, half jokingly. This poison was wretched, but it has saved my life on countless occasions.

"No," Itachi agreed. "After a while it's tolerable."

"I know," I replied. "It has more than just one benefit. Aside from me you seem to be the only other person able to access its perks."

Itachi's lips twitched softly. "I feel special," he said sarcastically.

"You should," I replied. "Most people can't handle this amount of pain for this long, it eventually destroys their body. You should let me take it back."

"No," Itachi replied. "It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

I was sure I looked as confused as I felt. The poison normally crippled people to the point of insanity. He was behaving like I did to it. Maybe… maybe the poison reacted differently with different people. Or maybe my body knew I loved him and let off a different type of poison. The last hypothesis felt right. My body knew how I felt before I did.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "but I'm getting closer to figuring it out."

Itachi's soft smile returned. "I take it that your Kekkai Genkai has grown from just tracking data from a clone to its owner," he observed. "I expected you to strengthen it, but telekinesis was the last thing I was expecting."

"Me too, but once the black chakra activated I found that a whole new world was opened to me," I explained. He was not my enemy, not tonight. I didn't feel like they could ever truly be enemies again.

Itachi let go of me for the first time in ten minutes and sat down on the ground, leaning against a large tree. He had a distant look in his eyes that I always hated to see. It seemed as though I had grown to hate it even more now, because I knew what he was thinking about. He looked up at me, staring for a long minute. "How could you ever forgive me," he asked. "I never thought it was possible, even with the answer. But here you are, trusting me on blind faith and instinct alone."

"I think, deep down, this part of me was always here, it just needed a little coaxing to bring it out," I replied, sitting on my knees opposite him. "You have my 'weak looking' partner to thank for that." I copied the words in his letter.

The corners of his mouth moved upwards, hinting at a smile. When we were children he'd laugh at his notes that he wrote in childishness. This twitch was all I got. I'd hear his laugh again, I thought determinedly. "Remind me to send him a thank you note," he replied in a gentle tone. He patted the ground beside him, inviting me to sit at his side, where I always knew I belonged. It was strange how quickly I became adapt to trusting him again. It was like he never left and yet the growing stress lines, and constant depressed look on his face reminded me that he did. I sat down beside him, grateful of his warmth on this chilly night. "The end was true."

"I figured as much," I replied, looking down.

"Pein wishes to meet you. You've taken down one rogue too many to go unnoticed by him," he said, looking upset by his own words. "He expects to be seeing you soon. I told him that I'm gathering information on how to best get you to join. I am not sure how long he'll be patient for however. I am trying to find a way to make him lose interest, but I foresee this ending badly."

"I understand," I replied. "I'll be fine, stop worrying so much. I'm not as weak as I used to be." I yawned and laid my head against his shoulder. "If you worry like this you will go prematurely grey."

I heard a soft chuckle, only one. It was more of to show that he understood that it was a joke than an actual laugh though. "I suppose you are right," he replied. His hand found my hair like it always used to. He gently started combing his fingers through it, knowing how soothing it was to me. I smiled gently and allowed my eyes to close. "Things will work out eventually."

I chuckled, I couldn't help it.

"What?" he asked, slight confusion echoing in his voice.

"Do you remember," I began, "When we were younger. We had to hide our emotions from everyone. 'It'll work out eventually', you'd always say, 'we'll be together you'll see.'"

"I do remember," he replied. I could hear the small smile in his voice. "And you always used to say 'that's all that matters, secret or not'."

"It was true. If that's all we have, we have to be thankful, I always thought."

"Does that still apply?" he asked. My eyes opened in shock. "Would you still think that, even now that I am a murderer? Even though it would be treason?"

I thought about that seriously for a long time. It would be the deepest form of betrayal in many ways. But if what I believed was true, he didn't deserve his S-ranked status. I'm sure he thought I wasn't going to answer, with how long it took me to make sure that I was making the right choice. "Yes," I replied quietly.

Itachi took a deep breath, a sigh of relief. I felt his lips against the top of my head. He picked his head back up and looked at the waterfall in the moonlight. "Thank you," he said softly, in almost a whisper. I smiled, and snuggled into his chest, making myself more comfortable. He allowed me to and then rested his cheek against my head. He began to play with my hair again and I slowly allowed my eyes to close, falling into the comfortable darkness, knowing that I was safe with him. Finally safe.


End file.
